Senzafine
by PsychicDreams
Summary: [Crossover Lawful Drug] Kakei asked Yuuko for a wish, but now when it comes down to it, she asks for his helpers in a problem. But when Yuuko asks for anything, it's always hefty and he's left to wonder if the four young boys will be coming back alive.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

"Kakei!"

The cheerful voice lanced across the almost too quiet drugstore, Green Drug, and penetrated into the silence with an uncanny sense of hype. Kakei, the manager, lifted his head and that smooth, easy smile touched his lips like usual. There was a grunt from the sofa as Saiga, his life-partner, woke.

"Not her again…"

It was well known to the two of them that Saiga did not like Ichihara Yuuko. Perhaps it was because their personalities were actually quite similar, at least to Kakei. Either way, he watched as his lover sat up and didn't even need to adjust his sunglasses. How he slept with them on, he would never even begin to fathom.

"Come now, she's not so bad."

"She is," Saiga insisted as their peacefulness was intruded by the effervescent Dimensional Witch. They'd had several dealings before, the most notable one being a vase that linked to a world of daffodils. That was why, naturally, he had sent Kazahaya and Rikuou to go fetch it for him.

"Kakei!"

"My dear Yuuko-san," he smiled as she settled onto the sofa, that little black thing she had made, named Mokona, bouncing on her lap.

They made the small chitchat, but Kakei knew that Yuuko herself never came to the Green Drugstore without a very dire need of it. But he could not see into the future of anything concerning Yuuko and her _hitsuzen_. He just wasn't that powerful enough, for the same reason that he could not find Rikuou's Tsukiko. He often wondered if he should mention Yuuko to Rikuou as a possible avenue, but had always had second thoughts at the last minute. Yuuko was extremely volatile and he had enough dealings with her in the past to know what a hefty weight Rikuou's wish would be. He feared the most that in order for Rikuou to find Tsukiko, he would have no choice but to give up Kazahaya as the payment.

Still, there were some perks to the business…

"How did it go, Yuuko-san?"

"Oh, very well, Kakei," she answered, her voice the low and mysterious tone he had learned to expect from her when she spoke of business. "The packages will arrive perfectly on time, you need not worry." There was a pause and he knew what to expect. "Now, as for the payment…"

"As usual, you can name your price."

And for the first time since he had met her, the Dimensional Witch's face grew grave. "I will be borrowing Kazahaya and Rikuou from you."

"Isn't that a little unequal a price for what he asked? Don't you have your own errand boys?" Saiga cut in, hitherto silent until now.

"I must admit it is, which is why in return, I'm going to lend you Mokona to even things out."

"What can that thing do that would be of any help?"

Yuuko leveled a smile on Saiga, which only made his partner squirm on the sofa. "Oh, quite a lot. I'm sure you will have uses for him."

"Is this venture you're doing so much that you have to have Kazahaya and Rikuou?" Kakei finally asked, having spent much of the last few seconds worrying and wishing his talent was powerful enough to see something dealing with Yuuko.

"This must be taken care of, Kakei and I can't do it myself. If I move to deal with the situation, _my_ enemies will make a move on my territory, which will be unguarded. I can't afford to let that happen right now, not with how things are so quickly in motion. But Watanuki and Doumeki are not enough by themselves. Kazahaya and Rikuou's gifts are absolutely necessary for this mission, same as Kazahaya and Rikuou's gifts would not be enough alone without Doumeki and Watanuki there."

Kakei chewed his lip and by listening to Yuuko, he could tell that the situation was grave indeed. The Dimensional Witch's jobs had far more scope than his usually were. He did not involve himself a lot with the spirit realms and other worlds, preferring to deal with what he could in the world in which he lived. Yuuko was deeply embedded into higher level of work. It was much like a corporate and branch offices, where most of the true work was done in corporate places, the branches dealing with smaller issues.

"Very well," he said at last, knowing there was nothing else he could do. He had no choice but to agree.

He just hoped his little employees came back in one piece.

** End **


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

They heard him long before they saw him.

"I am not _believing_ this!"

Kazahaya's eyes widened as he and Rikuou met up with the temporary partners they would be having for this new job. On the street corner, there was a woman with perhaps the longest black hair he had ever seen and he blinked at her designer clothing that showed perhaps a little too much leg, even if it appeared to be in a business style cut. She appeared to be enjoying the young boy's tantrum.

The boy on the other hand was something to behold and somehow familiar. He wore glasses and behind them were the bluest eyes he had ever seen. They were brilliant sapphires, dark and deep and seemingly as wild as the ocean. Life sparked from them with a sea-like flame and he thought that if he touched the boy and read the thoughts that Kazahaya would have a mound of interesting memories assault him.

"Are you…Yuuko-san?" Rikuou asked, after consulting the piece of paper they had been given with only the name and a street corner to go by. They didn't even know what they were supposed to be doing.

"I am."

"Ah!" the boy suddenly muttered and pointed at them. "_You're_ the clerks from that store!" When Kazahaya remained with a blank look of incomprehension, the boy leveled him with what was perhaps the prettiest smile he had ever seen on a male before. "I come in a lot to buy the hangover remedy."

Suddenly it clicked and he smiled back. "Oh, that's you! I didn't recognize you at first."

"I'm not wearing my uniform this time, no." He noticed Rikuou's eyebrows rise in question, as it seemed him and the boy in question seemed to get along splendidly. Almost too splendidly for the suspicious 'partner' he was always saddled with.

"Who is it you always buy it for anyway?"

The curious question prompted a dry and irritated look and he followed the silent pointing finger to the elegant and beautiful businesswoman next to him. He blinked in shock. How could this lovely woman possibly need that medicine? As if she read his thoughts, a grin that could only be described like that of the Cheshire cat in Alice in Wonderland crossed her features.

"You have no idea, she's a holy terror!" the boy expounded and it appeared he would have gone on in length about this holy terror had Rikuou not interrupted.

"Isn't there supposed to be someone else coming too?"

"Let us pray he _doesn't_," hissed the boy with glasses.

"If I don't, you'll end up in trouble."

The voice that flowed out of the darkness was deep and stoic; not quite the same as Rikuou's but very similar. When he could see the new boy by the light of the streetlamp they huddled next to, he noticed that the hair was quite short and his eyes were a sharp, golden color. He had the impression that nothing passed this boy's attention and Kazahaya did not miss the way that while those eyes looked at everyone and everything, they always seemed to come back to rest on the boy with glasses. He carried a bow in his hand, strangely enough, but he had no arrows.

"Good that you're all here," the woman, Yuuko, said at last. "I suppose introductions are in order. This boy here is Watanuki Kimihiro and the other is Doumeki Shizuka. I am Ichihara Yuuko."

Kazahaya smiled. "I'm Kudou Kazahaya and this is Himura Rikuou. It's a pleasure to meet you."

There was a short awkward silence as they stared at each other and finally, the woman's smile vanished and she glanced at the street leading north that seemed so much darker and more foreboding than the others around them.

"You four must be careful at all times and must always be together. It is a very dangerous place where you will be going. Rely on each other when at all possible. There is no time limit on this little mission, but it is best that you do not stay too long. Watanuki has the rest of the details and he can tell you them when you reach the house."

As they all shifted their clothing against the biting cold chill of winter, the woman dragged the boy with glasses, Watanuki, aside for a moment to speak to him in private. From his expression, it was obviously something he disliked, but because of the grave expression on her face, he didn't argue back.

When Watanuki joined them again and they were ready to head off, her voice caught them all in one last warning. "Be careful. You can die in this mission if you're not."

Kazahaya blinked and almost protested, but she was already gone, heading down the south street in the opposite direction they were to go in. Die! What the hell! That was the first he'd heard of this new and potentially life-altering development! Neither Doumeki nor Watanuki seemed to find it surprising or news of any kind and they had already passed on ahead of them.

"Don't worry."

"Eh?" Kazahaya blinked and looked up at Rikuou as they walked to catch up to the other two.

"Don't worry. She said if we stick together, we'll basically be fine. You won't die."

That was unusual, coming from his companion. But perhaps he remembered Kazahaya's stubborn will to live when he'd found him nearly dying in the snow at Christmas time. There was nothing more that Kazahaya feared than death, and his determination to survive is perhaps what piqued Rikuou's interest into saving him in the first place.

The house was indeed terrifying. Kazahaya's stomach hit his feet as he stared at it. It was a western style kind, with three stories and for all they knew, a basement too. It was painted black and the word dilapidated seemed…kind in description of it.

Doumeki was already opening the door and leading them in. There was no such thing as electric or technological amenities, and the darkness seemed to cling to them, wanting to strip them of all the warmth they held. It was cold, too cold to be mere weather, and Kazahaya shivered.

That's when suddenly the coughing broke out. He jumped in shock and stared at Watanuki, who hitherto had been perfectly healthy. Now his skin was a pale, pasty color, even more than what he had seen in the lamplight, and he was clutching onto Doumeki's arm, as if it were the only thing holding him up. He seemed to want to vomit, but nothing came out and he was covering his mouth and nose with his hand. He looked like he was about to keel over dead any minute.

"What the hell?" Rikuou demanded, jumpy and nervous as Kazahaya was. "What's wrong with him?"

"It's horrible…" Watanuki muttered and Kazahaya had to strain to pick out the words from behind the boy's hand. "It's filthy…The _smell_…!"

Doumeki's arms wrapped around the other boy's waist to hold him up. "Hold this."

Kazahaya had no choice but to hold the bow that was shoved at him and before he could stop it, his talent went into effect. At first, it was all a jumble of memories, but finally a clear impression remained: Silence, looking at Watanuki, in some sort of temple room. Hands were reaching through a shoji door to grab the bespectacled boy…

It was gone a moment later when he blinked and all that lingered after that of feelings were that of a shocked but also calming peace. As if…The only thing that he could compare it to would be how someone would feel as if they had found the whole reason that they had been placed on the earth. He could imagine that maybe finding the reason you were born would be calming and fill you with peace.

"Hey, pay attention, we're moving now."

Kazahaya blinked again and focused on Rikuou's face. Doumeki was carrying Watanuki toward a room to the left into what appeared to be a living room with a door leading to a study. He glanced around once more, noting what was once a grand staircase leading to the upper floors was nearly destroyed with age. He shivered, not sure he wanted to touch anything in the house and find out what it's history was.

"Hurry up."

He picked up his pace, getting into the small study just as Rikuou closed the door. It would have been a splendid room if it weren't so run-down. It appeared that most of the books on the shelves had pages disintegrating from age.

Doumeki set Watanuki down on the sofa and unexpectedly, it did not break under the frail weight of the boy. Rikuou leaned against what remained of the desk in the room and his eyes were somewhat cold as they stared at the boy that had carried Watanuki.

"What is going on? Why'd he collapse?"

Kazahaya knelt down next to Watanuki as Doumeki turned to his partner. The boy was barely breathing, raspy gasps as if he had trouble breathing, but at least he was not coughing as badly now. He blinked when he noticed that Doumeki held Watanuki's hand. His eyebrows knit. It was not the kind of hold that one had when someone was sick, but more that he knew he had to hold the hand for some reason.

"He collapsed because of his ability."

"What ability?"

There was a pause and those golden eyes glanced back down to Kazahaya and Rikuou. "If you don't want to tell us, I can always touch Watanuki-san and find out for myself," he suggested, since it didn't appear as if Doumeki liked talking a lot.

"What?"

"Kazahaya's ability is to read memories and past events," Rikuou explained, crossing his arms. "Doesn't matter what it is, person or object. My power is to destroy things. Smaller objects are easier."

"Thanks Mr. Eloquence," Kazahaya muttered. That wasn't exactly the way he would have put it, but it was accurate nonetheless.

"Now, since you know, I think it's time that you tell us what your powers are."

"You're being rude, Rikuou," he broke in, but it didn't appear as Rikou was about to back down.

"It is time, Kazahaya. Kakei sent us here and that woman warned us that we could die. It's only fair that we know everything so we keep living."

Doumeki, who had been silent as he listened, finally shoved his free hand into the pocket of his jeans and shrugged. "He's right. Watanuki has the ability to see spirits."

Kazahaya's mouth dropped open. "You mean like ghosts?"

"If you can read his memories, then that'd tell you better than me."

With a frown, since he didn't like to read someone's memories without permission, Kazahaya touched Watanuki's shoulder. Almost immediately, he was assaulted with memories and sensations. That always happened when someone was unconscious, as they weren't guarding their thoughts. Not to mention, Watanuki was highly spiritual, so that was even heightened.

"No…" he muttered, trying to sort through all he was seeing in amazement. "It's not just ghosts…it's everything supernatural. I thought at first it might be something like my power, but it's not. He can see spirits, both dead and those that are supernatural, plus forces of power…He sees it as black smoke…They're like physical sensations…"

Kazahaya jerked his hand back, not wishing to intrude on Watanuki's memories and sensations any more than he already had. It was close to mental rape when someone didn't agree to allow it to happen. Doumeki picked up the explanation, looking at Rikuou almost defiantly, even when no expression crossed either of their faces.

"That's why Watanuki was coughing. It makes him physically sick to be near such a concentration of whatever this stuff is in this house, or so I would assume. I've seen this happen to him before."

Rikuou didn't say anything for a long time and Kazahaya wondered if he would. Kazahaya shivered a little. In his search through Watanuki's memories, he had come across the reason they were there and it was not pleasant. Considering Watanuki's condition, he doubted that they could get this job over with quickly.

"Then what's your power?"

"He has the ability to suppress Watanuki-san's power, right?"

Doumeki glanced at him and scratched his head briefly. "Not exactly, according to Yuuko-san. I can exorcise spirits, but I can't see them. Watanuki can see them, but can't do anything about it. That's why I have my bow with me."

"But it's more than that, right? That's why you're holding his hand."

"What are talking about, Kazahaya?"

Kazahaya stood and turned to his partner. "Doumeki-san's presence is also enough to keep most of the spirits that haunt Watanuki-san away."

"Wait, haunt? I thought he just saw them."

Kazahaya ran his hands over his face and ruffled his hair, trying to sort through everything. "It was all a jumble, no coherence in his memories, but what I think it's like is that he sees stuff and they follow him around. Doumeki-san not only exorcises the spirits, but also can keep them away. That right?"

Doumeki shrugged. "Something like that, I guess."

"So what's the deal with the hand-holding then?"

"I guess it has something to do with that part of the whole thing. Maybe the closer they are, the more things Doumeki-san can do with his power. Or something like that. That's why if Doumeki-san wasn't there, he probably would have passed out instantly, right?"

"That's a reasonable guess," Doumeki said after a moment.

"Like he isn't passed out now," Rikuou muttered, but there wasn't as much heat or suspicion in his voice like there had been before. "Well, for now, we just have to wait until the guy wakes up and then get this damn job over with. This place gives me the creeps."

It was the first time Rikuou had said something like that, but Kazahaya could understand. This place had an oppressive and dangerous feel to it. He wanted to reach out and maybe touch one of the walls, to read what had happened to the building, but he was terrified of doing so and what he would see. The last thing he wanted was more nightmares.

"Tell me again why we agreed to this," he muttered under his breath as night continued to advance outside. He felt as if eyes were watching them maliciously, just waiting for a chance, any chance. Would it be like this if Watanuki wasn't with them? He'd gotten the clear impression from the boy's memories that he was a spirit-attractor.

Probably and that was the scariest thing.

** End Chapter 1 **


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

_ Dedicated to rusalkaz _

Watanuki groaned as he woke and blinked his eyes slowly. The smell was still awful and it clung to his throat like some sticky syrup that no matter how many times you swallowed would still stay. It didn't help that there was some sort of itchy feeling at the back of his throat that he couldn't do a damn thing about either.

"You're awake?"

"Kazahaya-san," he muttered, his voice sounding thick to his ears. He rolled over a little onto his side until there was a strange resistance against his side.

"Don't move, you'll wake him up."

"Huh?" Watanuki looked down and his mouth dropped open in surprise. Doumeki was currently sleeping quietly against the edge of the 'sofa' he was laying on, seated on the floor. His hand was extremely hot and awkwardly being pressed and when he looked, he saw that it was Doumeki clutching onto his hand.

"He hasn't let go of your hand since we put you here."

Watanuki tried to see around the sludge that clung to everything in the room. It wasn't all that bad in here, or maybe it was just because Doumeki was so close to him. Rikuou snoozed on the floor and he rose an eyebrow when he noticed that the black-haired boy's head was in Kazahaya's lap as he sat on the floor and leaned against one of the remaining legs of the desk in the room.

"What's going on?"

"You passed out shortly after we entered this house. He carried you in here and we've been here waiting for you to wake up since."

"How long was I out?"

"About three hours. Both of them were really exhausted so I let them sleep. I was waiting for you to wake up."

Watanuki rubbed his face with his free hand, but didn't pull his other from Doumeki's grip. It was probably the only reason he was able to wake up at all and…well, though he wouldn't admit it to anyone else, it was sorta nice.

The smell was as bad as ever, but he had no choice but to deal with it. He'd only been asleep for three hours after only spending five minutes being conscious in the house. This didn't bode well for finishing quickly and leaving. And to tell the truth, he was terrified of the place. Probably more than anyone else, he was the most scared of this whole place. He could feel the malicious atmosphere and the spirits that hovered just outside the room, sending in tendrils that desperately tried to grab them, but fell short at the very last second. He'd never come across anything so powerful or fearful in his entire life and he could practically feel every spirit's eye on him while he was there.

"So you can see spirits, huh?"

Watanuki blinked and looked at Kazahaya, who had given him a few minutes to collect himself. "You know about that?"

He listened intently as Kazahaya gave a detailed account of their conversation and abilities while he had been unconscious. So Kazahaya could see memories? He didn't know if that was worse or better than his ability. Either way, he wished he didn't have any ability of any kind. He just wanted a normal life.

Kazahaya eyed him for a moment. "I saw a lot more of your memories than I told them. Like why you're working for Yuuko-san and what our purpose is here. It's to banish some spirit and grab something, isn't it? Something that's evil so Yuuko-san can purify it, right?"

Watanuki glumly nodded. "This is just like any other job she's sent me out on, except ten times more dangerous. She warned Doumeki and me when she told me about this how dangerous it would be, but I didn't think you two wouldn't know anything. That really wasn't fair of her."

His new friend shrugged. "Not a big deal. I've done these strange jobs myself too, for Kakei-san, the manager of the store. Nothing quite so dangerous, but it's not new to me." He paused and looked down at the sleeping Rikuou in his lap and it seemed that without conscious thought, he ran a hand through the relatively long black strands of hair. "You really should heed that woman's advice."

"About what?"

"About relying on Doumeki-san. That's what she told you when we were leaving for this house, right? To rely on Doumeki-san and trust him. You really should. The guy's been worried sick about you since he carried you in here."

Watanuki shivered under Kazahaya's gaze and looked away, but it appeared as if Kazahaya had finished with his point. He was glad, because he didn't want to hear any more. Not about Doumeki or how he shouldn't hate him or about the strange feelings he had been developing lately.

It was another hour of talking with Kazahaya before Doumeki and Rikuou woke up. When Watanuki's eyes met that of his 'rival', he couldn't hold the gaze and looked away. It didn't appear as if Rikuou noticed anything, but he could feel Kazahaya looking at him.

"You still look horrible," Doumeki told him and Watanuki glared at him in response.

"Well, thanks so very much! It's not like I _asked_ to nearly die in this place!"

Was it his imagination or was there a faint smile on that stoic face? As if he was pleased that Watanuki was feeling better enough to argue? The thought made his heart race and he firmly told himself that it couldn't be true.

"Let's get going and finish this," Rikuou told them, standing and brushing off his clothes. It didn't appear as if he'd given any thought to how he'd slept in Kazahaya's lap and Kazahaya himself didn't appear as if he wanted to bring up the subject. Was it his imagination again that there seemed to be some strange awkward atmospheres with both of them?

He sighed and despite arguing about it, let Doumeki help him up. A strong arm slipped around his waist and he could feel the muscles against his back twitch. Really, Doumeki was really strong. Guess using a bow for so many years would do that to you. Then again, Watanuki knew he didn't weigh that much to begin with.

When they left the study, the smell got stronger and he coughed behind his hand, but it wasn't as bad as when he entered, since he was expecting it. Or maybe it was because Doumeki was holding him, which while it sent a thrill up his spine for no apparent reason, it also irritated him. Why did he always have to rely on the stupid boy?

"Where do we go now? What are you doing, Kazahaya?"

Watanuki blinked and watched as Kazahaya was slowly approaching one of nearest walls. He seemed nervous and afraid and Rikuou automatically approached him. Rikuou wasn't nearly as stoic as Doumeki, Watanuki noticed, and he could see some concern in those green eyes.

"I'm going to take a look at the history of this place, so…be ready."

"Be ready to catch you when _you_ pass out," Rikuou retorted.

"You jerk!"

The banter reminded him of himself and Doumeki, but he knew how Kazahaya was feeling. It was like they were almost the same. He knew that Kazahaya was scared stiff to know what he'd learn and that his outburst was only a temporary method to soothe his nerves. He could see in every taunt muscle ready to run. How his pale gray-brown eyes were a little too wide, like that of a deer's.

He'd seen the expression enough in glass windows of himself when he saw spirits following him to know.

Was he the only one that noticed how Kazahaya's hand shook when he touched the wall? He was definitely not the only one to notice the tears that suddenly streamed down those cheeks, but they were not tears of sympathy or pain, but terror.

"Kazahaya!"

Rikuou's hand shot out and dragged Kazahaya back just as the boy had opened his mouth to scream. Oddly enough, the scream seemed right at home in the decaying building and that made Watanuki even more horrified.

"Is he alright?" Doumeki cut in before Watanuki could, and was it his imagination that the arm around his waist tightened a little?

"What did you see?" Rikuou prompted, a little too frantically.

"Blood…" came the shocked and horrified voice of Kazahaya. "Blood everywhere…covers even the ceiling…screams…pain…death…blood…blood…B 

LOOD!"

Rikuou didn't have much choice in the matter as suddenly Kazahaya was clinging to his chest with the tenacity of a woodpecker on a tree. The tears weren't stopping and Watanuki knew suddenly that Kazahaya's ability was so much worse than his own. He would have to live with those memories, unable to forget them, for the rest of his life, whereas he might be able to forget the things he saw if he tried.

"The laughter…the owner…he killed so many people…he liked it! He _loved_ killing! Blood everywhere! It's everywhere! It won't go away!"

"Easy, easy, Kazahaya."

Watanuki could only watch as Rikuou's voice became soft to the frantic Kazahaya, arms wrapping around those shaking, thin shoulders. "Just a memory. There's no more blood. It's all faded now."

"We really should get moving," Doumeki said at last, but even before Rikuou could say a word, chaos erupted.

The bespectacled boy could only scream in terror as he saw the claws reaching for him. Doumeki couldn't possibly see it and his heart ripped in two when he saw Doumeki slammed into what remained of the marble fireplace. His legs were jerked out from underneath him and he landed on his back onto the floor. Already his voice was going hoarse from the high pitch of his screams.

"DOUMEKI! DOUMEKI HELP ME DOUMEKI DOUMEKI!"

"Watanuki-san!"

He could barely dimly register Kazahaya's voice and Rikuou's call for him to watch out. He barely noticed seeing Rikuou jerked onto the floor and then floating in the air like him. The wind suddenly whipping by as he was being carried somewhere quickly and Doumeki's yelling for him to not pass out.

This wasn't happening…

That was his last thought before the black sludge overwhelmed him and he lost consciousness for the second time that night.

** End **


	4. Chapter 3

_Note: For some of this part, I use "Kudou" instead of "Kazahaya", since it's in Doumeki's perspective. It was deliberate, since Doumeki would no doubt think of Kazahaya as Kudou, same as how I expect Rikuou would have thought of Doumeki and Watanuki as Doumeki and Watanuki instead of their first names._

**Chapter 3**

_ Dedicated to rusalkaz _

_Dammit, what the hell was that?_

Doumeki shook his head to clear the fuzziness. He could remember yelling something to Watanuki about not passing out, but the rest was all a blur. His head was throbbing with pain and he blinked. As he tried to stand up, he felt as if he was swimming through a huge current and all he could think of, for a few seconds, was the pain in his head.

"Are you all right, Doumeki-san?"

He lifted his head a little to see a white and scared-looking Kudou Kazahaya. "What happened?"

"Rikuou was taken by…something. Same with Watanuki-san. All I could see was you suddenly hitting the fireplace and Watanuki-san being lifted in the air." Kazahaya shivered. "It seemed as if the whole building shook and I fell. Then I remember seeing Rikuou picked up by…something."

Doumeki narrowed his eyes and scanned the room. He couldn't remember the house shaking, but flying through the air would do that to you. It was with feelings of guilt that he remembered Watanuki's terrified screams for help. Normally, Watanuki never asked for his help, he was prideful like that, which meant that whatever he had seen had scared him so badly that he had lost all control. His heart was tight with guilt and pain and he knew that he had failed. Watanuki wasn't dead, but he had failed all the same to keep him safe. So now the only option left was to get him back.

"Where do you think they are?"

"They're upstairs."

Kudou blinked and looked at him. "How do you know that?"

The archer pointed at his eye. "Watanuki and I share this eye. Sometimes I see what he sees. The last thing that Watanuki saw before he passed out was stairs, so I'm assuming that he and Himura-san were dragged upstairs."

"Oh, Doumeki-san. Here's your bow."

Doumeki blinked as the bow was held in his direction. It hadn't even occurred to him. He'd probably dropped it when he'd been flung against the fireplace. He took it without a word and tried heading to the stairs, only to stumble. When he put a hand to his head, it came away bloody.

"Doumeki-san! You can't go now, you're barely able to stand as it is!" Kudou's arms went around his chest, as if to help him keep standing.

"I have to help Watanuki. What is it?" he added when he noticed the somewhat far away gaze on his face.

Kudou blinked and shook his head somewhat. "N-nothing. You were just thinking of Watanuki-san so strongly that when I grabbed you to keep you from falling, I got a memory." He paused and it seemed as if he was thinking about whether to ask something. "Was there an incident in the past where Watanuki-san was kneeling in front of you and crying?"

Doumeki looked away for a moment as he straightened up slowly. "Yes."

"Can I ask what happened? Watanuki-san's face was so…poignant there that…"

He sighed and slid down the doorway until he was sitting. His head was swimming really bad again and he had to get it all straight. He knew that if he tried the stairs right then, he'd probably end up falling. "He almost died then. He was meeting the spirit of an older woman in the park because she was feeling lonely. Even after he knew that she was killing him, he still went. It got so bad that he was collapsing at school."

Kudou slid down to sit in front of him. "What happened?"

"I followed him one day with my bow and got rid of the spirit."

"You killed her."

"I suppose you could say it like that. That's how Watanuki saw it. He got attached to her because she reminded him of his mother, I guess."

"Watanuki-san's parents died, right? I got that impression from his memories."

"Yeah, so I've heard."

"Why did you do it? If Watanuki-san was so happy with this spirit, wasn't there a chance that he'd never forgive you?"

Doumeki didn't say anything for a long moment. He'd thought about this question for a very long time, ever since it happened. It was and at the same time, wasn't an easy answer. He doubted that Watanuki would appreciate his feelings, but he'd had no choice. He couldn't have let it go on.

"Because I didn't want him to die."

Kudou didn't ask anything after that and for a few more minutes, they didn't say anything. Why had he thought of that memory when Kudou had grabbed him? Probably because he was afraid that Watanuki would die. This was the only other incident they'd been involved in that death truly was a thing to consider.

"Let's get going. You must be worried about Himura-san."

Kudou reached out to help him up, but Doumeki didn't take it right away. "You'll see my memories if you touch me, right?"

"Don't worry, I won't. I only saw it because you were thinking so strongly about Watanuki-san and I wasn't prepared for it, so I couldn't block it out. It won't happen again."

He shrugged finally and accepted the hand up. His head still ached, but at least his vision wasn't fuzzy and it seemed the trickle of blood had stopped. He was going to rescue Watanuki and he would not accept failure again.

There was little to inspect in the room and Rikuou glared at nothing. There was a chain around his ankle and around Watanuki's, but it wouldn't have taken much to break it. The only reason he hadn't yet was because he was hoping that the unconscious boy would wake up. Once he began the process of breaking out of the room, it would be like rolling a rock down a hill: whatever it was that had dragged them there would come back and in order to know what the hell was going on, he needed the spirit-detector awake.

A groan behind him made him turn. Blue eyes blinked hazily and a hand immediately covered his mouth. The coughing started, as he had expected after hearing about the boy's powers, and it sounded so much worse than even when they had first entered the house. So when that Doumeki was around, he really did get better after all.

It sounded like he was going to cough up a lung…

"Himura-san? Where are we?"

"God knows. Somewhere upstairs is about all I can tell you, though what floor, I don't know. There were at least two floors above ground level."

"There's…a basement…"

Well, wasn't that _not_ a surprise?

"You feeling better?"

"Not…really…"

"You really do get better when that guy's around, don't you?"

"You mean…that jerk…? Wish he wasn't! He's so…annoying…" Almost every other word was broken up by a wracking cough and Rikuou raised an eyebrow in curiosity.

"If he can suppress your power and help you by just being near you, why do you not like it?"

"Because…he's my…rival. I…hate him."

Rikuou pursed his lips. This was sounding remarkably like Kazahaya. They were so similar that it was damn scary. Which reminded him, what had happened to Kazahaya? The cleanest recollections that he had, the ones that didn't just jumble together with how fast the chaos had come and gone, was Kazahaya clinging to his shirt and crying and then being yanked apart when the house had shaken somewhat. He didn't even have a damn chance to use his powers against the thing. How could you when you didn't even see what was attacking you?

"I wonder how Kudou-san is doing?"

He glanced only briefly back at the small hitch in the voice and he wondered if Watanuki had been about to add 'and Doumeki'. Despite the assurances from the boy, it seemed as if he and Doumeki were actually quite close, since they were always referring to each other without honorifics. Come to think of it, so did he and Kazahaya. It brought up and interesting line of thought. He couldn't recall ever referring to him as Kudou. It had just seemed so natural to call him Kazahaya…

"Come on, we're getting out of here."

"How? We're chained in—Himura-san, don't move!"

Rikuou froze and for a breathless moment, neither of them moved or twitched. There was an inordinately cold breeze that passed at the nape of his neck, causing an involuntary shiver that he couldn't suppress. His eyes darted left to right as much as he could without moving his head, but he still didn't see anything. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Watanuki's terror-stricken face.

A few more seconds passed and finally, Watanuki seemed to relax. "You can move now."

"What was that about?"

"Himura-san, I think we're going to be meals for the spirits. That one…it seemed to be examining you. I was afraid that if you moved, that maybe it would attack."

Now that he could look more closely, after that little incident, Watanuki looked even worse. He hadn't stood up, merely sat there since he woke up, but the weight he braced on his arms seemed to be seeping from him. Rikuou frowned. He really needed to get the kid back to that Doumeki. He seemed to be on his last legs right then and he doubted that Watanuki would actually be walking anywhere.

Well, there was no helping it. He'd have to carry him. It didn't take a lot of power to destroy the chain around their ankles and despite Watanuki's weak protest about what he was doing, he lugged the boy over his shoulder. There was a clinking sound and he turned to see Watanuki's glasses. He took only a few seconds to scoop them up and shove them in his pocket, before he broke the lock on the door with his ability.

In the hallway outside the door, while it was not overly bright in the house, was certainly brighter than that of the room and he took a moment to blink so his eyes could change. There was a shattered but awkwardly boarded up window to his right and it still seemed really dark. Shouldn't it be getting lighter soon? How long had they been in this house? It seemed like days instead of hours.

"Himura-san! Run!"

His introspection cut short by Watanuki's outburst, he turned, trying fruitlessly to see the danger. He didn't want to run to the stairs in case that was where the spirit was, but there wasn't any other way down except to jump, which would get them killed.

"What are you waiting for? Run!"

"Run where? Where is it?"

"Just run to the stairs!"

He frowned, but did as instructed. The only choice was to listen to what Watanuki told him if they wanted to get to the others alive. And he was worried about Kazahaya. The boy was helpless without him, what with his complete lack of common sense and any degree of intelligence. He was always getting in trouble and he was always having to bale the boy out. 

"Duck!"

His foot tripped a little on the stairs as he evaded whatever it was and he reached out to grab the railing, only to have it snap like a toothpick in his hand. There was screaming from someone. He developed a severe case of vertigo so he couldn't tell if it came from Watanuki over his shoulder or from down below, where he could glimpse Doumeki and Kazahaya. There was a suspicious silence from behind him and he wondered if Watanuki had passed out from fear.

Then again, he was afraid too, since when you were falling from a third story and plummeting to the ground, it was usually bad news.

** End chapter 3 **


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

_ Dedicated to rusalkaz _

It was almost as if it were happening in slow motion. Their progress through the air was measured in heartbeats instead of seconds. There was a terrifying moment when Rikuou's green eyes met his own and in that single second, he felt his breath stolen. There was no change in expression, but just somehow…

"RIKUOU!"

"WATANUKI!"

He didn't know which of them had yelled first, because his own voice melded with Doumeki's so perfectly. Then they were both pounding on the old staircase as they ran up, hoping to reach a halfway point with the two falling down.

Time seemed to slow down for Kazahaya. Rikuou's hand reaching out was drawn into a movement that every second took a year and every heartbeat was barely completed. There was no way he'd reach that hand…no, but Doumeki's did. The sound of the slapping of hands as they connected and gripped sounded like church bells to his ears.

"Kudou-san, quickly. With this much force, I'll be pulled over too."

Everything happened so quickly that before he realized, Kazahaya was clutching onto Doumeki's waist with every single inch of strength he had. The railing was long gone and he heard the creaking of the stairs under the combined weight. But at least Rikuou's fall had been stopped.

"Watanuki! Oi, Watanuki wake up!"

"Doumeki-san, I don't think he hears you," Kazahaya grunted, already his arms going numb.

"He's out cold," Rikuou told them, the strain in his voice obvious. He had to not only hold an unconscious person, but also bear the brunt of holding onto Doumeki's hand with only one of his own.

"I can wake him up."

"How exactly?"

"Oi, idiot. Wake up. Only morons could sleep like this."

"Sh-shut…up…you…jerk…!"

The words were soft and full of strain, as if he had barely any breath to speak, but at least he was awake. Kazahaya couldn't believe that no amount of yelling would have woken him up, but calling him an idiot would do the job. That was…almost impressive. Then again, did he really have the place to be impressed, when it was, ultimately, up to him to keep all three of them from plummeting to the ground?

He didn't think so.

"How do you think we're going to get up now?" Rikuou muttered.

"Watanuki just needs to climb up you, over me, and Kudou-san will drag him onto the stairs. Then I pull you up." There was a pause and he could practically hear Doumeki gritting his teeth against the effort of holding them up. "Watanuki, did you hear me?"

The only response was that of a blood-curdling scream. It was the highest pitch of anything Kazahaya had ever heard in his life, worse even than that when Watanuki had been captured by the spirit in the first place.

"Watanuki-san! Watanuki-san! What is it!" he yelled, not knowing what the problem was, but whatever it was, it was below Watanuki, because he was thrashing wildly in hopes of escaping.

"TEETH! TEETH! IT HAS TEETH! DOU-ME-KI!"

"Don't thrash around, idiot! Just climb up Himura-san."

"Doumeki-san, you really keep strong under a crisis," Kazahaya commented breathlessly from holding them. Indeed, he admired Doumeki for it, because he was already terrified himself. Watanuki's panic was infecting him to the point that he wanted to yell at Rikuou to just get up there and away from the danger.

Watanuki didn't need any more urging and though it was awkward, Rikuou grunted quite a bit from the thrashing, the boy managed to get a death grip on Doumeki's shoulder until a well-placed kick accidentally caught Rikuou's stomach. For a few seconds, the grip he had with Doumeki loosened and the delicate balance they had was disrupted.

Lest Watanuki fall, Doumeki reached out to grab the boy's wrist until he held onto both Watanuki and Rikuou. Kazahaya was amazed at the strength of the other boy until he realized that Doumeki was actually speaking.

"What?"

"The staircase is going to collapse under us unless we get more even weight on it. Quickly, pull up Watanuki."

Kazahaya knew he had to place trust in Doumeki to not fall when he let go of the boy's waist. Instead, he tightened his grip with one arm until the boy hissed with a shortness of breath and reached out with his free hand for Watanuki's.

"Hurry! Hurry! It's coming! They're coming!"

With a jerk, Kazahaya dragged Watanuki, not gently at all, onto the landing. Frantically, he reaching for Rikuou and despite the fact that his strength was sapped almost entirely, his hands had a deathlike grip on his partner. Once his hands were around Rikuou's, just by that gesture, his heart was suddenly calmed. So long as Rikuou was okay, things would work out fine. Every job that they'd gone out on had always turned out fine when Rikuou was there. So long as Rikuou was there, things would be okay.

Reality intruded when they were all back up on the staircase and Watanuki's panicked voice interrupted like shrill bells. "Doumeki, get your bow! Aim for the top of the stairs!"

"I know where to aim, so long as you look there."

"How can you shoot something without any arrows!" Kazahaya demanded, hands still clutching Rikuou's biceps tightly, while his partner merely gasped, too tired to speak at the moment. But when that string was let loose, Watanuki calmed ever so slightly.

"Down the stairs! One's down the stairs!"

"Be quiet, I can see it."

"How?" Rikuou broke in just as that string was let loose again. "He said he couldn't see them."

"They share the same eye." When Rikuou looked at him with incomprehension, he waved off the confusion. "I'll explain it to you later, this isn't the time right now."

Not when enemies were closing in from all sides, now was not the time at all for explanations.

"How do you think they're doing?"

Saiga frowned at his sake cup, which he hadn't touched, and looked down at Kakei. "I don't honestly know. I've never met those two others before and I didn't like the whole idea to begin with."

Yuuko's face had been serious since the moment she had come for tea that evening after sending the boys into the house a few hours ago. She had not said a word once and only sipped her sake once in a while. She was, in fact, nursing the same cup for the last hour. Kakei knew what a good drinker she was and it didn't help his peace of mind when she was worried enough to not even be interested in her alcohol.

"I wish I could foresee either way what sort of outcome it's going to be," he muttered. "Waiting is terrible."

"That's what the rest of us say who don't have that ability," Saiga muttered, but he draped his arm around Kakei's shoulders, dragging him close in a comforting hug.

"Mokona," Yuuko uttered, causing both of them to look up. The black magical being she had created bounced to her lap, as if he had expected her call.

"No, never mind."

"What was that about?" Saiga demanded when the creature went back to sleep. "Were you going to do something to help them?"

"I thought about it, but it's better if I don't. I know very well how dangerous it is, but all I can do at this point is have faith in Watanuki and the rest." Her fingers twitched as if she longed to weave a spell.

"Why don't you interfere, damn it! This is your mess!"

"Saiga!" Kakei gasped, but Yuuko didn't take offense. In fact, though her face was serious and even slightly intimidating because of the power he knew she held, she appeared somewhat sad.

"You're right, this is my mess. It was something that I didn't know how, couldn't deal with, when I was very, very young. I made a wrong call and what happened because of it, the consequences it bore, were nothing short of catastrophic. I caused many needless deaths." She swirled the sake in her cup slowly and finally took another sip, glancing out the window of the office in the back of the Green Drug store. "But if I were to try and sort it out myself, with my involvement with it in the past, it would be creating a huge opening for my enemies to exploit it. That is a very dangerous place; they could use it to trap me there, even. Besides…"

"Besides…?" prompted Kakei softly.

But she didn't answer. Instead, she graced them both with a smile that was somehow both gentle and sad, as if she had never truly forgotten or stopped regretting that incident. After that, she didn't speak again and the little room was left in silence once more to be permeated only by the sounds of breathing and the rustling of someone's position changing.

** End chapter 4 **


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

_ Dedicated to rusalkaz _

Watanuki had little energy left after the whole fiasco and all he wanted to do was go to sleep and never wake up, but Doumeki had convinced him that now was the time to finish their job, while the spirits of the house were reeling from the amount of exorcising that the archer had done.

He hadn't had a chance to properly thank Rikuou yet for saving his life, but it appeared as if the boy didn't really want thanks, at least at the moment. It really sucked when it was two against one, as Rikuou seemed to agree with Doumeki's view of things.

"Are you all right, Kudou-san?"

Kazahaya blinked and smiled wearily at Watanuki. "I'm fine, just really tired."

Watanuki tried not to stumble and it was only Doumeki's constant hand on his elbow that kept him from falling. Somehow he had lost his glasses, but that was fine with him. If the ghosts and evil beasties weren't clearly seen, they didn't scare him _quite_ as much.

"Where exactly is this thing that we have to get?"

"Basement," Watanuki echoed at the same time as Kazahaya. They shared a worn-out smile, but laughing was beyond them all at this point. Watanuki had never been in such dire straits as he was right then. Never before had his life been so deeply and profoundly threatened as it was in this decrepit house. Kazahaya apparently agreed, since there were dark circles under his eyes, as if he could not forget what he had seen when he touched the wall of the house.

"It's locked."

Before he knew it, Rikuou's voice had penetrated into his daze and they had already reached the door leading to the basement. Watanuki could only cover his mouth in revulsion at the smell that leaked around the edges of the doorframe. It was so much worse than the roof of the school that he and Doumeki had investigated so many months ago. The last thing he wanted was to have that door unlocked.

"Hold you breath, Watanuki."

"Eh?" He barely had time to do as Doumeki told him when Rikuou shattered the lock with his power and the door seemed to swing open of its own accord, as if to beckon them into the hell he knew was waiting for them like some terrifying gargoyle perched on a cursed castle.

He felt like retching violently when the black smoke billowed around the four of them and he knew that if Doumeki hadn't had his elbow in a death grip, he would have passed out by now. He was so going to kill Yuuko for this. Did she have any idea what the hell he was going through in this house?

…Knowing Yuuko, she probably did, but sent him in anyway.

"How far down do the stairs go?"

Kazahaya's tone was that of apprehension somewhere behind him and he realized why it was so awkward going down the stairs: Rikuou was in front, Doumeki and he squished side by side on the narrow, rickety staircase, and Kazahaya in the back. It was extremely difficult to not tread on Doumeki's feet, but even when he did, the archer didn't complain. Maybe he was beyond that at this point.

"Seems we hit bottom," Rikuou muttered, halting the progress.

There was a strange sound and Watanuki strove to pinpoint what it was…it was like hard-soled shoes on loose but abundant gravel, but it was not entirely the same. It didn't feel like gravel, and amid the strange noise, sometimes he clearly heard something that echoed like crunching sounds.

"Oh my god, it can't be!"

"What is it, Kudou-san?"

Doumeki's voice was sharp and Watanuki found himself being dragged closer to the archer's taller body. He didn't know what everyone else saw, because all he could see was blackness and smoke. There was the faintest glow coming from his feet, but instincts honed after sixteen years of dealing with spirits had told him to not look down the moment they had gone down the stairs.

"They're…bones. What we're stepping on…they're shattered bones…Like someone was grinding them, but didn't finish…That's why it's so uneven and…"

"Calm down, Kazahaya. Don't freak out on us."

Somehow Rikuou had moved behind them, judging from where his voice was coming from. He was somewhere near Kazahaya. Watanuki was using his ears to the fullest he could get, breathing shallowly in his mouth amid his coughing. Suddenly, he almost felt as if he was the luckiest one, since he couldn't see anything and wouldn't have to witness the horror that Kazahaya was.

"How am I supposed to calm down, you jerk! I'm walking on human bones here! I can't forget about the smell or the sight of all the blood in my head! I can't, I can't I ca—"

Silence suddenly overwhelmed the noise behind him and he wondered what Rikuou had done to calm Kazahaya, since his rising, panicked voice was suddenly quiet. Doumeki hadn't moved once since they had paused and it was getting harder to keep his eyes from falling shut. He just wanted to lean against the pillar that was his rival, if only for a moment, to rest, but he knew that if he did that, he'd fall asleep. Chances were that if he fell asleep, he wouldn't be waking up ever again.

"Let's go."

Rikuou's voice hadn't much changed, so whatever he had done didn't bother him. Watanuki didn't want to move, knowing that he was walking on human bones, but Doumeki seemed prepared to drag him if absolutely necessary, so he wasn't left with much choice. He wanted to ask Kazahaya if he was all right, but his voice wouldn't work and his throat closed too often to block out the wretched scents and the stickiness that it brought to his mouth.

There was no telling how long they'd been walking or would have walked, had Watanuki not frozen in place after several minutes. No matter how much Doumeki tugged him, there was no way the boy could make his legs move. Even without his glasses, it was as if what he was seeing was in crystal clarity and he wished he couldn't see all the details he did.

"What's wrong, Watanuki-san?"

"Wh-whatever you do, don't touch me, Kudou-san," Watanuki whispered, unable to tear his eyes away from the horrifying…_thing_ before him. He did not want Kazahaya to read his memory and have to bear what he was seeing.

Right before them, less than a foot away, hovered the most disgusting thing he had ever seen. It could have been human once, but now it bore no resemblance of any kind to anything Watanuki had ever known. Amid the darkness and smoke that was all he could see, this shown with a red aura, like a beacon of evil. Blood dripped soundlessly in terrifying patterns on the bones beneath it as it hovered at chest level.

It was small and mutated, with one short leg and another almost too long. Its skin was…well, it was as if someone had peeled off the skin and left whatever was beneath red with blood and other internal organs exposed. The teeth were sharper than any razor and it grinned maliciously at him. Could it possibly be that it was his imagination that it was chewing on something that looked suspiciously like flesh?

He couldn't help it. Watanuki turned his head just in time to vomit onto the bones at his feet. It was so disgusting that even after he had emptied his stomach, he still wanted to throw up. The deformed face, eyes nowhere near where they should be in placement on the skull, seemed to glow in satisfaction and a forked tongue flitted in and out of its mouth, as if tasting the air laden with smell and thickness of bile.

"What do you see?" Rikuou demanded and despite all the warnings he'd told him, Kazahaya grabbed his wrist. Watanuki had no strength in him anymore to protest or drag his hand away.

But whatever Rikuou had told or done earlier kept Kazahaya from screeching in the same terror that had struck Watanuki. He honestly didn't know why he wasn't screaming in horror. Maybe it was because after all that he had seen that night, he was numb to it. …No, he was not numb, it was just too disgusting, too shocking, that he didn't believe it. That his throat closed and refused to acknowledge that such a _thing_ could exist.

Kazahaya's hand was shaking as he lifted it to point at the thing. "There's…something very…disgusting…in front…of you. N-no wonder…Watanuki-san…threw up…I w-want to too…"

Doumeki suddenly pushed Watanuki toward Kazahaya and the boy had a horrible sense of vertigo that wanted to make him throw up again. He heard the stretching of the bow and the sudden twang…there had barely been a pause in it, as if he didn't dare wait to aim.

"Again…Doumeki," he rasped, even as his vision was fading into blackness. "I-it blocked…"

He hadn't even finished his sentence before he passed out from the overwhelming evil that had pounded against his senses for far too long.

What was all the yelling about? What about the shaking?

Watanuki opened his eyes to see the back of someone's calves. They were running and he could see the ground was shaking. What was going on? The last thing he remembered was falling unconscious with that thing glaring maliciously at them, as if trying to decide which of them to eat first.

"Hurry up! It's going to collapse!"

"Tell me you grabbed the damn pouch!"

"Shut up, Rikuou! I got it, you think I'm stupid or something!"

He listened faintly to the arguments of Kazahaya and Rikuou before groaning. It seemed to alert them that he was awake…speaking of which, how did he wake up? And why did he have this overwhelming feeling that he was missing or not getting something of huge importance that was happening at that very moment?

"What's going on?" he muttered groggily, not even trying to lift up his arms or struggle. His limbs felt as if someone had tied lead weights to them and he didn't have the energy to fight for control of his own body. Who was carrying him over their shoulder?

"The house is going to collapse. We have to get out of here or we'll be crushed!"

Barely seconds after Kazahaya finished speaking, the harsh light of the moon hit his eyelids and fresh, cold air assaulted his face and body. Contrary to the rest of the house, the basement they had been in had been stiflingly hot, like they had truly ventured into the depths of hell, with infernos of heat and fire just out of sight no matter how much you had walked.

Vaguely, he judged that sun would be coming up in an hour. Normally he was a good student, but then and there he decided that not even for Himawari-chan would he go to school that day. He just felt too physically awful to even think it.

"I do not believe we made it out alive," Kazahaya muttered and from around a leg that could only be Doumeki's, he saw the boy drop onto the pavement in exhaustion.

"Good job, all of you. I'm so very glad you're all alive as well."

It was a voice he didn't recognize, but it was clearly male, despite it's somewhat softness. He experienced once again a strange sense of vertigo as Doumeki set him on his feet and he blinked in blurriness. He really wished he hadn't lost his glasses…

"Hey, here." Watanuki wavered on his feet as Rikuou held out his hand. "You dropped these when we were upstairs."

His glasses! Speaking of stairs…Watanuki slipped them on and turned to look over Doumeki's shoulder at what remained of the nest of evil they had narrowly escaped from. It was completely totaled and not even a single billow of dust hit the air. The wood even seemed to be disintegrating as he watched, as if whatever evil that had been there had held up the house long after the point where it should have decayed into dirt.

"Kakei!"

Watanuki turned from the house one final time, at Kazahaya's relieved and upset voice. There were three, well really four, people waiting for them. Two of them, he didn't know. A man even bigger than Rikuou wearing black sunglasses towering over a smaller man, whose face seemed to be carved by angels, with soft but pretty features, holding a gentle expression despite the worry and relief he showed.

But it was when his caught sight of Yuuko that he felt his blood boil with rage. This was all her fault! He nearly died more times than he could count and had the worst experience of his life because of her! She had warned him, but hadn't seen fit to truly explain the depths of depravity he had experienced and seen in that evil house.

"Yuuko-san!" he screeched.

The effect of his anger silenced everyone until they all watched him. Yuuko's eyes were expressionless and unfathomable, as if she had expected the fury he felt. What she had done was wrong. She had barely warned him what would happen and had given him no help whatsoever in the form of anything. Not to mention she hadn't even told Rikuou and Kazahaya what they would be facing!

He couldn't even think of anything to say. Oh, there were a whole lot of rude swear words that he wanted to spill from of his mouth, his arms were shaking in his anger, but habit kept them from coming out.

"I," he said distinctly, drawing out each word with a perfect pronunciation and emphasis, "hate you."

"I expected you would," she replied calmly.

"I nearly _died!_ Do you not even care about that! You didn't tell me what was in that house! You didn't warn Kudou-san or Himura-san! _You didn't help me at all_! What if I _died_! What would you have done then! Merely waved it off, possibly gone to my funeral! You…you…you…!"

Doumeki seemed to sense that he was on the verge of spilling out terrible invectives and cursing, and his hand grabbed his shoulder tightly, as if trying to either calm him or redirect the focus of his verbal attack before he could say something that he truly would regret later.

Yuuko's expression hadn't changed, as if she was prepared for such a reaction. "Watanuki, I know that I just threw you to the wolves in that house. I know just how bad, how rough, you would have it. Your power is stronger than even you suspect. I imagine you truly would have died if it hadn't been for Doumeki and the others."

"Then why did you do it!" he screamed.

"Because there was no other way."

He wanted to scream how could she play with other people's lives that way, how she could use them as pawns on a chessboard with no regard to their feelings or future, but his voice was stopped up from everything he was feeling. Not to mention the overwhelming guilt. If he hadn't gotten involved with Yuuko, neither Doumeki, Rikuou, or Kazahaya would have had to go through the trauma that they had that night.

Summoning up all the dignity he had left, he lifted his head as calmly as he could and looked her straight in the eye. "I can't leave your shop because I haven't paid off my wish, I know that. But after tonight…I'm going to request that you never again involve Doumeki or anyone else. I'll still do your jobs, I have to, but don't put anyone else in this situation again."

"Watanuki--" Doumeki began, sounding somewhat surprised, but Yuuko's voice overrode his.

"You realize what you're doing, Watanuki? Some of these jobs cannot be completed without Doumeki with you. And if he's not with you, you know what can happen to you. He's your protection, the reason I keep involving him."

"Damn it, Yuuko-san, I don't want anyone to get hurt or die for me!" he yelled. "I'll find a way to do all your damn jobs without Doumeki, so don't go involving him!"

There remained nothing but silence after his outburst and he could feel all the eyes on him: Rikuou's, Kazahaya's, the two men he didn't know, Doumeki's and Yuuko's. Mokona was suspiciously silent on her shoulder.

"Watanuki."

"What the hell do you want!" he snapped at his rival, who had finally stirred and broke the quiet that had gripped the eight people in the predawn light.

"I don't go with you on your jobs because Yuuko-san asks."

"Will you just _shut the hell up_! I'm _trying_ to help you here!"

"That kind of help I don't want."

The firm voice, the unwavering stance, finally made him turn around to glare with his bloodshot sapphire eyes. He knew he looked like hell, but he hoped it only gave more weight to his words and his gaze. "What the hell are you talking about! Why do you go through all this crap anyway! You don't even get paid for it!"

Golden eyes seemed to weigh him and in answer, without so much as a word, Doumeki leaned down and kissed him, right in front of everyone just as the rays of the sun touched the horizon in a flash of bright hues.

** End **


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

_ Dedicated to rusalkaz _

Kazahaya felt his jaw drop to the ground. He had not thought that the two of them had that kind of relationship. And it was obvious that it was not a chaste kiss. Watanuki let out something similar to a mewing sound, his hands going up to grip tightly onto Doumeki's shirt as he was held in a strong embrace.

Then he blinked and went over the memories he had gotten from both Doumeki and Watanuki before. No…with how shocked Watanuki's face was, with no memory of things like this, there was no way that they could have had such a relationship until this moment. He glanced at Rikuou, and then away after a few seconds. He'd never seen such a…contemplative look. It was as if he wasn't really seeing Doumeki and Watanuki, but something in his mind that suddenly occurred to him.

"I told you that I didn't want that kind of help."

Kazahaya turned back to the…couple when Doumeki's voice, unlike the breathy whisper one might have expected, penetrated into his own confusion. Watanuki himself looked as if he was about to cry or throw a tantrum and with complete lack of tact for what he had done, Doumeki merely grabbed his bow and turned to leave.

Watanuki didn't try to stop him.

Gathering his feet under him, Kazahaya stood and made to go over to the bespectacled boy, to urge him to follow, when Rikuou's hand shot out and grabbed his wrist. He wanted to demand why, when his partner gestured with his head toward the woman that had sent them on such a terrifying night in the first place.

Her eyes were determined and forceful and she took a few steps forward, her voice strident as it penetrated into whatever daze Watanuki had been in, staring in the direction where the archer had disappeared to without so much as a 'goodbye'.

"Watanuki, what are you doing still standing there? Go after him!"

"Why?" the boy snapped back, eyes glaring at his employer. Kazahaya could see the anger and irritation in them, but more than that, also the confusion. He could understand those emotions perfectly, thanks to Rikuou. He shivered when he thought about the basement they'd been in and the memory of what Watanuki had seen intruded forcefully, making him grip Rikuou's hand tighter.

"We're rivals! I hate him! Wh-why should I go after him!"

Yuuko seemed to grow irritated and she pointed an accusing finger at him. "You know you don't hate him, Watanuki! If you really hated him, would you always be making him lunch, whatever he asks, every day? Honestly, you're so stubborn! If you hated him, why would you worry about him and ask that I not involve him anymore? Would you have gone to such lengths to sacrifice your own eye for his if you _hated_ him!"

By the time the woman finished speaking, Kazahaya could see Watanuki was shaking badly. He had listened quietly to the words and somehow it seemed to him that for a boy like Watanuki, that was a bad thing.

"Watanuki-san--" he started, but the bespectacled boy shoved his hands over his ears.

"Shut up, shut up, _shut up_! I don't want to hear it! I don't care about Doumeki! I don't love Doumeki! I hate him! Leave me alone!"

Before anyone could stop him, he was running, shoving past Kakei and Saiga with no remorse and going in the opposite direction that Doumeki had disappeared to. Kazahaya hadn't known just how fast that boy could run, but suddenly he envied him. To be able to run so fast…if you could run that fast, was it possible to outrun your feelings?

"Oh dear. Do you think I said too much?"

"Of course you did," Saiga interrupted rudely. "Couldn't you see he's in the denial stage? You only made it worse! He didn't even have a chance to recover from that kiss!"

That was a surprise. It was definitely not his imagination that Saiga did not seem to like Yuuko. Then again, Yuuko didn't seem to care and ignored the venom in the words just as she had ignored most of the anger in Watanuki's outbursts earlier.

"I had hoped just to push it along a little. It's been months and Watanuki really _is_ stubborn…"

Kazahaya tuned out the conversation after a few more minutes and leaned wearily against Rikuou behind him. He was tired, very tired. He'd been up all night, running around in a cursed and very evil house, and now Kakei, Saiga, and Yuuko were arguing. The last thing he wanted was to get into something new. In fact, he was tempted to slink off before Kakei could think of something else to give him to do.

"Let's go," Rikuou told him in an undertone. "They'll probably be here for the next few hours."

His recollection of actually making it back to the apartment he shared with Rikuou was all a blur. The moment he saw his bed, he couldn't help but drop into it with a grateful sigh, not even bothering to get undressed. All he wanted was a dreamless sleep and hope that the memories he had seen in that house would dissolve into dust like the house itself once they had taken the pouch that seemed to center the magic that had sustained it away.

"Hey, wake up!"

Kazahaya groaned some hours later, wincing at the light coming in through the windows. His bloodshot eyes glared at Rikuou as he towered over his bed and he yawned widely. Barely two hours worth of sleep and it had not been peaceful at all. He kept remembering the terrifying creature down in the basement and all the blood and gore he'd seen from the memories of the house.

"Kakei wants to see us in the office now. Get up."

Where had the Rikuou of the basement gone? The one that had reached out to touch his head so gently to calm him when he was panicking? Who had whispered in his ear calming things, the way you would with a skittish horse?

Then he flushed in embarrassment of thinking about Rikuou like that and crawled out of bed. Thank god that Rikuou hadn't seen his blushing face or he knew he'd never hear the end of it.

His legs felt like dead weight as he stumbled down the stairs and into the office in the back of the store. Saiga was awake, for once, and Kakei had a 'kicked-puppy' look. The moment their eyes met, Kakei was on his feet and helping him to sit down.

"Kudou-san, Himura-san, I must apologize. I can't say it enough. I had no idea what Yuuko-san's job would entail. When she explained to me what had happened, I truly feared I had sent you somewhere where you wouldn't come back. When I told you both to go meet her, she hadn't told me what she needed you for."

Seeing Kakei look so depressed and guilty, Kazahaya didn't have the heart to yell at him. Rikuou dropped down next to him on their habitual sofa and it seemed to dip in the center, something Kazahaya had never noticed before now. His shoulder seemed to be brushing against Rikuou's almost constantly, though the other boy didn't seem to acknowledge it or notice.

"What was that house anyway?"

Kakei sighed at Rikuou's question, but it was Saiga who answered. "This is all according to that woman's words, but this is what she told us: When she was young, very young, a very long time ago, she got a client. This woman deals in wishes. So long as you pay the price, you can ask any wish. Well, the client she had was having issues with her husband. He was always having affairs, but he refused to let her leave in any way. Every time she'd try to run away, he'd find her and bring her back. So she came to the woman's shop to fix the problem."

Kakei picked up in place of Saiga when he felt silent. "That's where things start to go wrong. The woman came back to Yuuko-san's shop, but she was bruised and bloody. Apparently, her husband had beaten her up quite badly. Yuuko-san felt bad and she intervened herself without a wish. She isn't supposed to do this, and this is why: when she moved to take care of the husband herself, her enemies, of which she has many powerful ones, also moved. She almost lost her life in the whole venture. Her magic collided with that of her enemy's in the house. As if that wasn't bad enough, the item she had given the woman originally had it's own magic as well."

"To make a long story short," Saiga interrupted, "all three magic powers collided at once and created a warped place. What you saw in the basement, apparently, was the husband of the woman who had been completely mutated by the magic. Over the years, people would go near the house and never come back out. Apparently, the husband who became something altogether different was killing and eating everyone."

"But if it's been going on for so long, then why was it imperative that it be taken care of last night?" Kazahaya demanded, shivering when he remembered what the thing had looked like.

"Because it seems that it was getting worse. One of the woman's enemies was going to use the potent, mixed-up magic from the house to use against her and in order to defeat it using her magic, it'd probably end up leveling half of Tokyo. What you went in to retrieve was the item that she had given the woman in the first place, which was the focus of all the magic that surrounded and penetrated into the house."

"Why couldn't she get it herself?" Rikuou muttered.

Kakei sighed sadly. "The house is a weakness to her. It's a constant reminder of her failure, and why she will not act that way again, to help someone without an express wish asking her to. Also, if she went into the house, it is very possible that someone could trap her inside of there and she'd never be able to get out. Her shop would be left undefended, as well as Watanuki Kimihiro, who everyone has an eye on in the spirit world."

"Watanuki-san?" Kazahaya blinked. He hadn't thought that the scared boy would be such a focal point. What would it be like to be the focus of the whole world that you wanted to get away from? No wonder he hated his ability. "Speaking of Watanuki-san, how is he?"

Kakei and Saiga exchanged a glance, which made Kazahaya nervous. "Well, that's what we called you down here to talk about. He's not…doing too well after that."

"And you wanted us to see him, right?" Rikuou interrupted.

"If you would. I have his address ready."

Kakei was giving them 'the look' again. Kazahaya was particularly weak when Kakei looked so nicely concerned about them. He rubbed his tired and achy eyes several times, but he knew that in the end, he'd say yes. He always did.

Lately, he didn't have any good luck.

** End **


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

_ Dedicated to rusalkaz _

"I just don't understand how we're supposed to help in this situation…"

Rikuou glanced at Kazahaya next to him as they navigated the winding streets to Watanuki's apartment. It was surprisingly a long way from the drug store and hardly in what would be considered the good section of town. It hinted that perhaps Watanuki was having a harder time in his life than just with spirits.

"I mean, it's not like _we're_ lovers!"

That was true enough, he supposed, but ever since he had seen Doumeki Shizuka kiss Watanuki, thoughts he hadn't once entertained were slowly coming to the forefront. Thoughts would plague him about how Kazahaya really was rather attractive. It hadn't occurred to him and he wondered what it would be like to kiss a boy. More specifically, what would it be like to kiss Kazahaya?

Maybe these thoughts came about because he had been in such danger of losing this loudmouth, lacking common sense partner of his after being with him for so many months. It wasn't a pleasant thought knowing that when he woke up, Kazahaya might not be there. He'd gotten used to his complaining and going after to clean up the mess that the boy got himself in.

"Stop complaining," he muttered and crossed his arms, unnerved by where his trains of thoughts were going. "Aren't you at all worried about Watanuki?"

"You know I am, jerk! He's a really nice guy that's probably just terrified of stepping outside of his door!"

Unexpectedly, Rikuou felt a pang of jealousy. Kazahaya really was truly concerned about Watanuki. But why on earth would he feel jealous? Even if Doumeki, and by extension Watanuki, were gay, that didn't mean that Kazahaya was. But now that he was thinking about it, Kazahaya resembled Watanuki a lot. Not so much in looks, but in personality. It struck him that they were both quite obtuse about a lot of things.

Despite what Kazahaya thought, Rikuou had actually thought Kazahaya had looked interesting and rather…pretty in that wedding dress a few weeks ago. Not to mention, he'd gotten a hold of a picture of said boy in said wedding dress. He had originally kept it for blackmailing purposes, but he'd caught himself looking at it every so often.

"I just don't know how we're supposed to help him with the…stuff about Doumeki-san."

"We won't talk about that stuff, idiot. You _do_ remember that we went on a terrifying, dangerous job and almost died? You would think that someone kissing him wouldn't be nearly as bothersome as what he had to go through. Considering what his powers are, it was probably the worst for him than anyone else."

Rikuou blinked as suddenly Kazahaya flushed and looked away with a huff. "I know that! I haven't forgotten!" The shoulders slumped as he watched him and the voice lowered to a whisper. "Wish I could forget. Every time I blink or close my eyes, all the stuff is still in my head."

His hand twitched and he reached over to ruffle his friend's brown hair. "Don't worry so much about it. It'll fade in time."

"Rikuou…?"

"Hmm?"

Their eyes met and Rikuou found himself standing still with Kazahaya beside him. Silence in the street enclosed them and he found himself lost in the wide-eyed light brown gaze that was somehow so different from before. After that little job, Kazahaya had seemed down. Even his outbursts when they fought weren't as energetic as before.

His hand slid down to gently touch Kazahaya's chin and he watched as a faint red tinge slowly heated those cute cheeks. Wait, cute? Why was he holding Kazahaya's face like a lover would? Shaking his head, he let go and started walking again.

There was silence as Kazahaya caught up to him, but neither seemed to have any inclination to bring up what had happened before. Rikuou kept telling himself that he had not been about to kiss the annoying boy next to him, but no matter how many times he chanted it in his head, it did not change the fact that his heart and instincts told him that he had very much been close to kissing him.

They had never said they hated each other, like Doumeki and Watanuki, but their relationship was nowhere near like that.

Not at all.

Watanuki lifted his head tiredly when the sound of his doorbell intruded onto his daze as he sat at his table drinking what had to be his fiftieth coffee. He hadn't slept yet. He didn't want to sleep because if he did, he'd dream about what he'd seen in that house.

And he'd think about Doumeki kissing him.

He tried to ignore the doorbell, but when he thought whoever it was had given up, there was a banging on the door instead. Frowning, he stood up, wobbling a little on his feet, and slowly slinked to the door. It was so hard to keep his eyes open…every time he blinked, his eyelids didn't seem to want to go back up.

"Yes?" he muttered, opening the door to hopefully glare away whoever was there.

"Watanuki-san?"

Wait, he knew that concerned voice. Unchaining the door, he opened it wider and blinked several times so that he could see more details. "Kudou-san? Himura-san? What are you doing here?" How did they even know where he lived?

…Oh wait, probably that damn Yuuko.

"Watanuki-san! You look terrible!"

Was it Rikuou or Kazahaya that somehow managed to manhandle the door open? He wasn't in any state to really take notice, sleep deprived as he was. He did register the hands that gripped his upper arms and faint, light brown eyes staring at him worriedly.

"Have you bathed yet? Where are your glasses? You don't look like you've slept since you got home…did you go home right after…that?"

That…? Oh, _that_! The kiss was what he meant right? He shook his head, not sure at what. "I think I went straight home, but I don't really remember. I don't want to sleep."

Watanuki missed what Kazahaya said after that as he had a momentary lapse in hearing. Perhaps it was a moment of insensibility, because the next thing he knew, Kazahaya's arms were around his shoulders and he was being dragged down the hall to his bathroom.

"Rikuou, make him something to eat. Just anything."

"What are you going to do?"

"Get him a bath, what else!"

"Looks like he might pass out the moment you get him in there."

"…Well, then I'll stay with him and make sure he stays awake and help him."

There was a distinct pause that made Watanuki look up. Rikuou had the most peculiar look on his face. The only word that he could think of to describe it would be jealous, but what would Rikuou be jealous about? What was this strange, awkward feel in the air all of a sudden?

"…Fine."

"Come on, Watanuki-san. You'll feel better after a bath."

It took both of them to get himself undressed. He wouldn't have dared to allow it normally, but he didn't have the energy to even argue about it. At least it was Kazahaya and not Doumeki. He would not have himself looking so weak in front of Doumeki.

His cheeks burned in a blush as he thought about Doumeki and the fact that his eternal rival had stolen his first kiss from him. He just wanted to hide, but he knew that eventually, he would have to go to school. Eventually, he'd have to go to work. Eventually, he'd have to face Doumeki.

"Watanuki-san? Is something wrong? Please get in the tub."

Kazahaya seemed quite capable of taking care of someone, he thought as he slid into the tub. The heat was almost scalding and he winced at the heat that seared his skin. It made his eyelids droop almost instantly, and if it hadn't been for Kazahaya consistently talking to him, he probably would have passed out and drowned in the bath.

"Did something happen between you and Himura-san, Kudou-san?"

His friend blinked and then flushed red. "I don't really know, Watanuki-san." He shifted until he was comfortable next to the tub and Watanuki watched him through a sleepy haze.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, on the way here…he was acting strange. He…he almost seemed like…I don't know…" The boy huffed and crossed his arms. "He's never usually nice and all, but this time…it was like down in the basement of that house. He was gentle and seemed…really concerned about me." The red on his cheeks deepened and he muttered something behind his hand.

"What?"

"I said it was almost like he was going to kiss me or something! How weird is that! We don't have that kind of…thing going. We barely tolerate each other!" Their gazes met again. "What do you think, Watanuki-san? Don't you think that's strange!"

"Sounds like me and Doumeki," he muttered and stared at the ceiling. "I can't stand Doumeki. I'm always fighting with him. He's always making me angry. But I guess it's like Yuuko-san says. I don't _really_ hate him…Ah, what am I saying! Of course I hate him! All I have to do is look at that annoying face and his expressionless tone and I get angry all over again!" He rubbed his face hard with his hands.

Kazahaya didn't say anything for a long moment. "Yeah, I think it's like that."

Watanuki looked up. "What, Kudou-san?"

"Oh, it's nothing. I was just thinking about some stuff." There was a pause. "Um, Watanuki-san, I know you probably don't want to talk about this kind of stuff and all, but I think it's like you just said now."

"About what?"

"About Doumeki-san. You don't really hate him, but seeing you just makes you so angry and irritated. He gets under your skin the way no one else can. You find that suddenly, that if you don't get irritated or if he's not around, that something's not right. And…you start to miss him when he's not there." Kazahaya seemed to be steadfastly staring at the floor even as Watanuki stared at him. "And you start thinking that if you don't get irritated, then maybe he get concerned about you and you don't want that…You don't want him to think you're weak, even when you can't control yourself and want to scream. When you want to appear strong, but you're terrified and you don't want to let him know that. And you get the feeling that when you're out on these jobs, that so long as he's there, it doesn't matter how dangerous it is, everything is somehow going to turn out all right. Just because he's there…"

"…are we talking about Doumeki and me or you and Himura-san…?"

Kazahaya's head snapped up in shock and he was frantically shaking his head, but Watanuki's gaze seemed to wilt him. His cheeks were even redder and he looked away. "I guess I was talking about me, maybe, but it also applies to you, doesn't it? Isn't that how you feel?"

Watanuki looked at the water and let it run through his fingers before answering. "…Yeah, I guess you're right. You got it really pegged."

Bitter laughter filled the bathroom and he looked at Kazahaya in curiosity. Those light brown eyes were depressed and he shook his head, scratching his head in a resigned way. "We got it bad, don't we?"

Watanuki could only laugh in return, in the same way. Kazahaya had it right all right. He really was in deep, too deep. "You're right, we do."

"At least you know about Doumeki-san's feelings. Even if he did it rather abruptly and wasn't perhaps the most ideal way…"

"Kudou-kun…"

"Damn stupid Rikuou! What am I supposed to do now! I can't stand feeling like this!"

Watanuki had no answer for him and could only sit in the tub as he watched Kazahaya cry out his frustrations.

** End **


	9. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

_ Dedicated to rusalkaz _

Kazahaya closed the door behind him and followed his instincts to the kitchen. The apartment wasn't that big, so getting lost in it was hardly going to happen. It was a somewhat run-down building, but it was kept neat and clean. Watanuki really was the opposite of him.

Rikuou was sitting at the table and drinking something. The faint smells of decent food wafted around him and he really was grateful to him, even if he would never admit it. If Rikuou hadn't found him on that night nearing Christmas, he'd have probably died. It didn't help that now both he and Watanuki knew that he had certain feelings for his partner. This really sucked.

"How is he?"

He glanced over his shoulder back at the hallway. "He seems to be better. He's getting dressed now." He paused and chewed his lip a little. "I think we should call Doumeki-san. I think Watanuki-san has something he needs to say to him."

"Did he tell you that?" Rikuou asked calmly.

"No," he finally admitted, "but I really think we should."

Rikuou sighed and stood, reaching for the phone. "What's the number? I assume you know it?"

At the lifted eyebrow from his partner, Kazahaya flushed again. "I got it from Watanuki-san's memories. I didn't looking for it, it just…he was thinking about Doumeki-san and it hit me."

"…You got a lot of Watanuki's memories, haven't you?"

He scratched his head and dropped down into a chair. "It's not my fault. Watanuki-san's mind is like an open book. What he thinks, he thinks loudly. What he remembers, he remembers clearly, as if it's happening at that very moment. Even when I do my best not to use my powers, some stuff still gets through anyway. It's like a battering ram against my brain."

Rikuou didn't say anything more about it and after a few seconds, he heard the distinct tones of numbers being punched. He'd never realized how funny, or strange, a conversation would be when you're only listening to the other half of it. It was a short one, barely lasting a minute, and consisted of Rikuou telling Doumeki to come to Watanuki's apartment.

"Geez," he muttered when his friend had hung up. "You could have at least explained something to Doumeki-san. He probably thinks something horrible has happened."

"Letting the imagination take over by not explaining something is the best way to get him here faster."

"You know, Rikuou--"

"Kudou-san? Himura-san?"

Inwardly, Kazahaya winced. Watanuki hadn't done it on purpose, but his timing really sucked as he entered the kitchen. He had finally made up his mind to talk to Rikuou about his feelings, as he didn't keep feelings bottled up all that well, but now he couldn't do it with Watanuki there.

"You should probably sit down, Watanuki-san."

"Better yet, go to sleep."

Kazahaya glared at Rikuou. He didn't want Watanuki to sleep until Doumeki got there and the two boys had a talk. Though he had to admit that perhaps sleep was the best for Watanuki at this point, after all that had happened.

"I really don't want to," Watanuki muttered and dropped his face into one of his palms. "If I go to sleep, I'll dream about that house and…other stuff."

He knew what other stuff Watanuki was referring to: Doumeki's kiss. Perhaps Watanuki was numb, since he was actually being mighty calm about the whole thing. Kazahaya didn't think he would be as tranquil about being kissed by Rikuou. Though he really rather wished that Rikuou was like Doumeki in that respect. This strange limbo they had between them was so very awkward and he wondered if Rikuou would just kiss him, then some things would at least be settled and they could move on to something else, back to their normal relationship.

Though they gave him food, Watanuki didn't really eat anything and Kazahaya found himself counting down the minutes until Doumeki would arrive. The apartment was so silent between them that when the doorbell rang, both he and Watanuki jumped a little. 

Rikuou spared him a glance that he really didn't want to try to interpret before going down the hall and opening the door. Chewing his tongue a little, Kazahaya stood and gently tugged Watanuki to follow him toward the front door.

Doumeki was wearing shrine robes, and didn't seem at all bothered by the fact that the sun was shining down on him and that others might stare. Strangely enough, he looked really good wearing those robes and he wondered what Rikuou would look like wearing them.

"Dou-Doumeki! What are you doing here?"

"You look terrible, Watanuki."

_Actually, he looks a whole lot better now than he did when we arrived_, Kazahaya thought, trying to avoid touching Watanuki. It was not that it bothered him, but he knew that Watanuki probably was going through a whole swell of emotions and if he touched him, Kazahaya knew that he'd be bombarded with them.

"Kazahaya, help me clean up the kitchen while these two talk."

Rikuou's hand gripped his elbow and literally dragged him back down the hallway, leaving silence behind them. Well, wasn't that nice of Rikuou, to give them some quality time? He was actually surprised Rikuou hadn't dragged them out the front door instead, but maybe he figured that they still might be needed after all.

That was fine with Kazahaya. He had certain things he wanted to talk to Rikuou about in private anyway and it was best time to do that while he still had the nerve.

"I'm fine, so you can go now! I don't even know why you came!" Watanuki hissed, pacing in his living room.

"Himura-san called me," Doumeki explained, crossing his arms in his sleeves. Really, Watanuki looked horrible. The circles under his eyes looked like bruises and he wished that he could just wipe them away. He basically looked sleep-deprived and after the last few months, the archer had learned to how to read his companion pretty well. Watanuki was running on nervous energy, which meant he hadn't slept at all yet.

"Why!"

Doumeki shrugged. "I don't know. He just told me to come, so I did." He paused and took a few steps forward, but when he did, Watanuki only retreated further away. "You need to sleep."

"I don't need your concern!" was the quick, sharp reply.

It hurt more than he cared to admit. Watanuki didn't want his concern, but how could he not? Watanuki was in dire straits and even if he had nightmares, the boy needed to sleep. His body could only stay up for so long before he collapsed. Doumeki knew he was hardly one to talk, but he had been asleep for maybe and hour or two before Himura's call had interrupted it.

"What are those two doing here anyway?" he asked, trying not to let a pang of jealousy go through him. Watanuki had called them and not him, perhaps?

"I don't know, they just showed up on my doorstep."

Well, that was a relief anyway. At least he didn't think he had any rivals, except for maybe Kudou. Both Watanuki and Kudou seemed to have hit it off wonderfully when they met and it seemed as if they truly were close friends. He ran his tongue along his teeth with vexation. Could it be possible…? Could Kudou be something close to a rival to him? It didn't matter who it was, he was not going to let someone take Watanuki from him. He would do anything to hold that heart in his hands, to love him and kiss him.

But Watanuki wouldn't let him near, not physically or emotionally. But Kudou, who he had only met for a few hours, seemed to have effortlessly gotten what Doumeki had been working almost nearing seven months to get. Why! What did Kudou have that he didn't? What could Kudou give Watanuki that Doumeki couldn't? Why did he have to get in the way! He wouldn't give Watanuki up to Kudou…no, he couldn't.

"Watanuki."

"What!"

"I love you."

He watched as Watanuki's cheeks went from almost too pale to a perfect rose color. Those deep sapphire eyes that he loved to watch wouldn't look at him. The urge to sweep Watanuki up in his arms and kiss him so deeply and profoundly that they both forgot the world was so strong that he'd already taken two or three steps toward the boy before he could get himself in check.

"Doumeki."

"Hm?"

"I…Look, I…You get me so damn irritated, you jerk! Every time I see your face, I just want to…! Gah, this is all messed up! I wasn't supposed to fall in love with you, damn it! Don't you know! It was supposed to be me and Himawari-chan, with you as the annoying, humor-based sidekick!"

Doumeki shook his head and finally reached out to take hold of Watanuki's arms, despite the fact that the boy half-heartedly struggled. "Watanuki, this isn't some manga. Things aren't supposed to work out picture perfect. This is just how things go."

Watanuki didn't say anything and his eyes remained downcast at the floor. No matter how long he waited, no words came out and finally, Doumeki couldn't take it anymore. How was he supposed to react to what was basically a love confession except with a kiss?

He didn't know when he moved, all he knew was that suddenly, he could taste that sweetness he had longed for since a few hours ago. Watanuki didn't resist as his tongue penetrated into that pure mouth. It had been fine when he hadn't known what he was missing, but ever since that first kiss, he'd been dying for more. It was very much like placing a feast in front of a starving man, allowing him to eat once, and then giving him breadcrumbs again after that.

He just couldn't take that.

The boy in his arms whimpered as he extended the kiss, forgoing the need to breathe in favor of the love he felt for Watanuki. He could feel the hands clutching at the sleeves of his shrine robes as he deepened the kiss, dragging his lover further into his embrace until he couldn't tell whose heat it was that kept them warm.

If he could just stay like this for all eternity, he would be happy. Doumeki could not deny that even after this, he would be jealous of Kudou and Watanuki's relationship, but never would he allow that to go beyond friendship. He would do whatever it took to make sure that Watanuki would remain his.

Because he loved him.

** End **


	10. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

_ Dedicated to rusalkaz _

Rikuou leaned against the wall with his arms crossed and watched as Kazahaya did what little dishes there were to do. He'd searched the kitchen earlier when Watanuki had been in the bath with Kazahaya and had found an almost abundant supply of food. Considering that, it was obvious that Watanuki could cook, which couldn't be farther from Kazahaya. If it were possible to burn rice, Kazahaya would no doubt burn it.

"I wonder if they're working things out?" his partner muttered.

He shrugged. "Since you went to the trouble to get Doumeki over here, they'd better. You did help Watanuki clean himself up."

As much as he didn't want to admit it, his heart had given a painful, jealous twist when Kazahaya had said he was going to help Watanuki bathe. He didn't usually credit his imagination a lot, but he hadn't been able to stop thinking about it until Kazahaya had shown up some twenty minutes later in the kitchen. He didn't ask what they talked about, but he hadn't failed to notice the faint red rimming his friend's eyes.

Something had happened and his protective streak had no bounds. It had taken everything he had not to cross-examine Kazahaya.

"Rikuou…"

"What?"

"I love you!"

That was not something you said to someone when they there drinking something and Rikuou found himself coughing violently, nearly dropping the glass of water Kazahaya had handed to him only seconds before. "What the hell?" he snapped, going to wipe his hands on a dishtowel when he could actually breathe again.

"I told you that I loved you, you jerk! Don't just cough at me, answer me!"

Rikuou wondered if it was all some strange joke until he looked closely at his friend. There was no way it could be a joke, not with how prettily those cheeks were flushed and how shyly and yet fiercely their eyes were meeting. He noticed the shaking of those hands at his side, as if it was taking everything he had to stay still.

"Kazahaya…are you _serious_?"

Finally those pale brown eyes looked away and he crossed his arms over his chest, as if to ward something away. "I realized when I was talking with Watanuki-san in the bath. I…I'm not the type to keep stuff inside, so I figured now was the best time to tell you…"

"For how long?"

"How long what?"

Rikuou gestured randomly at him. "How long have you…?"

"Um…I don't really know. How long have I loved you? I don't know, maybe a few months. How long have I _known_ I loved you? 'Bout an hour." There was a dispirited chuckle. "I just realized it when I was trying to help Watanuki-san with his feelings about Doumeki-san. I was describing and talking and he asked me if I was talking about him and Doumeki-san, or you and I."

Silence fell and Rikuou scratched his head in thought. What was he supposed to do now? He didn't know how he felt, really. Kazahaya was perhaps the closest person he'd ever been to, with the possible exception of Tsukiko. He was actually really cute and he actually didn't _mind_ saving him.

Why was he thinking of that chocolate incident? He'd always made jokes about Kazahaya having a lustful expression or teasing him about kissing, but now he wondered if that was insensitive. He'd never worried about being insensitive before…

"Well! You just gonna stand there or are you going to give me an answer!"

Rikuou could only shrug helplessly. "Kazahaya, I don't know what you want me to say. We've been living together for months and I do…well, I admit I do care about you, idiot, but I don't know if it's like that. Honestly, I never thought of myself as gay before."

"You're the idiot!"

He could only stand there stupefied as suddenly, Kazahaya's hands were on his shoulders and lips were pressed against his. It was a short, chaste kiss, but he did not miss the taste of salt in his mouth.

"You're the idiot!"

Then the warmth was gone and he watched powerlessly as Kazahaya was running, feet pounding on the floor and the front door slamming. _Idiot!_ What did he have to go and run away for! How could running possibly solve anything! Running away from problems didn't make them go away!

"I'm an idiot," he muttered, rubbing his forehead even while his heart was suddenly tight and breathing was difficult.

"Himura-san? What's going on? What happened with you and Kudou-san?"

Rikuou looked up as suddenly Watanuki and Doumeki were there. He really should leave, considering Watanuki's almost undressed state. His stare seemed to remind the boy and suddenly, with red cheeks, the pale boy was buttoning up his shirt again. Doumeki seemed as composed with his clothes as he was when he arrived, not a single twitch out of place and not at all embarrassed like Watanuki.

"It's nothing. It'll be fine tomorrow."

He honestly hoped it would be fine tomorrow because he wasn't sure he could handle it if it wasn't. He snatched up his own jacket, as well as Kazahaya's, and was just at the door when Doumeki's hand paused him. Green eyes met golden and there was a silent moment that seemed to stretch to infinity.

Since there wasn't much to say, he left after another moment. He knew what Doumeki wanted to say, but what good would that do? It was like chess. Kazahaya had made his move, now it was his turn for a counter. It was his turn to do something, to take action, or otherwise they'd be left in limbo for a very long time.

Just what he was supposed to do the jury was still out on.

"Hey, kid, what did you do to Kazahaya?"

Rikuou looked up at Saiga leaning against the counter as he shelved some medicine. "I didn't do anything."

"Then why won't he go anywhere near you and barely stays in the same room? At this rate, Kazahaya will be going out alone on those other jobs from Kakei and get himself hurt."

Rikuou didn't know exactly what he was supposed to say or do. Even if he did, Kazahaya wasn't giving him the time of day to do it. Even at night, whether he was pretending he was asleep or not, he refused to talk to him. Running wasn't solving anything, but apparently Kazahaya liked living in denial.

"If he won't talk to you," Saiga told him, as if reading his mind, "then make him talk to you. You all sleep in the same apartment at night. Even if he's sleeping, wake him up and talk."

"What's to talk about?"

"Whatever it is that's been bugging you _both_. You realize that the atmosphere has been heavy ever since you both came back from seeing those two other boys."

"Excuse me?"

Rikuou didn't have a chance to answer when he heard those two words. He sighed, knowing that voice. He turned and his green eyes took in the schoolboy that stood there. His glasses were firmly fixed on his face this time, and he really did look better with them on. Well at least he didn't have to worry about Watanuki wooing Kazahaya, or the other way around, since it was obvious that Doumeki was not about to let that happen.

It had been three days since that day in Watanuki's apartment. He'd met Doumeki once since then, by coincidence, and they'd exchanged a few words. Doumeki's devotion was unchallenged by any. The only problem Rikuou was coming across was his jealousy anyway, since for the past three days, Watanuki was showing up to talk with Kazahaya. 

"Hey, kid! Where's the tall one always with you? The one that smooched you a few nights ago?"

Watanuki flushed at Saiga's comment. "He's not here. He doesn't go _everywhere_ with me."

"Probably best if he does, considering all the trouble you get into." Saiga draped an arm around Watanuki's thin shoulders. "So how's it going anyway? How far you two gone?"

Watanuki turned and even deeper red and Rikuou finally took pity on him. "Kazahaya's in the back, he'll be out in a few minutes, so you can wait outside. I'll let him know."

Grateful sapphire eyes looked at him as he nodded and smiled at them both, before worming out from under Saiga's arm and nearly running from the store.

"You know, that's very brave. If that kid didn't have someone already, that'd be what's called 'helping the enemy'."

"What are you talking about? Kazahaya and I don't have that sort of relationship."

"Really? Then why is your hand shaking and you looking so jealous?"

Damn it, life was looking to be so much harder…

** End **


	11. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

_ Dedicated to rusalkaz _

"I just can't help it!" Kazahaya told him, banging his fists on the firm countertop of Watanuki's apartment.

Watanuki could only watch helplessly as he finished the tea and food. He'd invited Kazahaya over for dinner, risking Yuuko's wrath for asking for a day off. In return, he had to make her a chocolate cake with fudge in the middle. But he'd been walking and talking with Kazahaya for a few days now and it looked as if the boy really needed a break, so he'd invited him for dinner and to stay the night.

For some reason, Doumeki had not at all been pleased when he'd heard the news, but Watanuki had forbade him to come and interrupt them. Honestly, what was that damn Doumeki thinking? What was he getting so uptight about? It was just Kazahaya and dinner at his house. He'd even dragged out his extra futon, which was airing at the moment, for his friend.

Which was all they were. Perhaps he was so uptight because he had no idea that Kazahaya was in love with Rikuou.

"Chop up those carrots, carefully."

He'd learned that on the contrary, Kazahaya was totally inept in the kitchen compared to himself. Obviously, it had been Rikuou who had made the food three days ago that he hadn't really eaten. He'd been in no state of mind to do anything for himself then.

Oddly enough, he hadn't been having nightmares when he slept. Was it because of Doumeki, who always seemed to wait until he went to sleep before leaving? Or was it just his mere memory and the memory of his kisses that kept away the unwanted dreams?

They talked about a lot of things during the creation of dinner and he'd never really had such an enthusiastic audience over his food, but apparently Kazahaya loved it. Watanuki loved it when people enjoyed his cooking. It was something left of his parents that he could treasure.

"What do you plan to do when you get out of high school?"

Watanuki sighed. "You see, that's the problem. I can't really plan anything because of this ability of mine. I guess I have to do whatever Doumeki does, since he's the only that can keep the spirits away."

"You guys really are close…"

The bespectacled boy flushed and picked up the dishes to wash them. "I guess. My dream is to open my own restaurant, but what with all these spirits following me, there's not really a future for that. There's not much of a future for me anywhere…"

There was a bit of silence. "You could be a novelist."

"Huh?" He turned around to see Kazahaya with a contemplative look on his face.

"No, listen. Seriously, you can be a novelist. They don't have to leave their houses, so all you have to do put up wards and all, or live with Doumeki-san, and just send your manuscripts out. That way if you have to leave Doumeki-san can go with you and you'd still have a good job. Novelists are really rich if you do well."

It had never occurred to Watanuki about being a novelist. But what would he write about? His experiences with the paranormal? Take the incidents in his life and make them into a fiction novel?

"Or maybe that Yuuko-san can suggest something. You did say you're working for her to get rid of your ability? But no spirits bother you in her shop, so…why not talk to her about succeeding her position one day? That way you have your ability, Doumeki-san, and a place that's probably really nice to stay at."

That thought made his stomach clench. Doing that job of Yuuko's? He'd seen enough of that damn job than he ever wanted. He never wanted that kind of responsibility in his life. He didn't want other people's lives hanging in the balance because of him. That was the whole reason he always felt so guilty about Doumeki getting involved with all the things he was so deep in.

"Hey, don't get so depressed, it was only a suggestion," Kazahaya added hastily.

"It's all right, Kudou-san, I'm not depressed. I just…I just don't think I have any right to look toward the future. I'm just trying to survive one day at a time."

"I know what you mean."

They shared a rueful laugh. "You can call me Kazahaya, Watanuki-san."

"Then you can call me Kimihiro."

There was a bit of silence before Kazahaya stood up to help him with the dishes. The atmosphere was calm, almost too tranquil. He was always so calm with Kazahaya next to him. They could talk about anything and agree on almost anything.

Really, if he didn't have Doumeki…

"Where the hell is he!" Rikuou snapped and crossed his arms, pacing in his apartment. The last time he'd seen Kazahaya was leaving the store with Watanuki. Knowing those two, they were so dense that they could get in trouble while just walking down the street.

"That's it! Who does he think he is, to do this to me!"

The door slammed behind him as he ran out.

"Is it comfortable, Kazahaya-kun? It hasn't been aired out in a while."

"The futon is fine, Kimihiro-kun." Kazahaya smiled at him.

"So…you haven't talked to Rikuou at all since then?"

"Not if I don't have to. But it's kind of hard to avoid him if we live in the same apartment and work in the same store. Not to mention, Kakei likes to send us on jobs. I'm only thankful that he hasn't sent us out on one recently, so that I don't have to worry just yet."

"But Kazahaya-kun, he didn't completely say no either. Maybe if you just talk to him again…"

Kazahaya shook his head and rolled onto his stomach, looking out the window of the bedroom. Or tried to around the closed curtain that Watanuki wouldn't let open. "You don't know Rikuou. He'd probably be just as happy to leave things as they are. He probably hasn't noticed that I'm gone yet."

"Kazahaya-kun…"

"It's getting really late, you know."

"Didn't you accompany Watanuki today?" Rikuou snapped, ignoring Doumeki's comment as he stood on the shrine steps. It had taken little questioning from Kakei to find out where Doumeki lived.

"No, he said he got a day off from Yuuko and was going to have Kudou-san stay over at his apartment. Why?"

Rikuou didn't need to say he had a bad feeling, because it appeared as if Doumeki had picked up on his mood. He snatched the bow from the wall and was already locking the door to the temple before Rikuou had even reached the stairs.

Something was just not right…

"What do you see? What's wrong, Kimihiro-kun?"

Watanuki was frozen in his bed and could only stare at the window, feeling his hands shaking. "There's something at the window…it's burning the wards around it…it's going to break through…"

"Then get off the damn bed, you're right in it's line of fire!"

There was a moment of chaos, the slamming of a door, and the next moment, he found his head pillowed against someone's chest. It was most certainly not Doumeki's, it was nowhere near as muscled, and there was a very distinctive smell, like aftershave, but not quite.

Silence…

"What's going on…?" he muttered, and peered over the shoulder of who was covering him, which could only be Kazahaya. He had shielded him. How nice of him. But the spirit was gone, so…

"Watanuki."

"Doumeki…" It took only a few seconds more before he registered that he was being stared by both Rikuou and his lover. Then a few seconds more to realize what their position must look like. "_It's not what you think!_ Right, Kazahaya-kun! _Right!_"

Kazahaya let go of him as if he were made of fire and held up his arms, shaking his head frantically. "He's right, this isn't what it looked like! The spirit was at the window, Watanuki was right in the way, and I was just trying to protect him!"

Doumeki and Rikuou exchanged glances and he did not miss the anger in Doumeki's eyes. Or was it…jealousy? Oh man, this was bad. This was really bad. He'd only seen that expression on Doumeki's face once before and that was when he'd shoved him against a wall when he'd seen Watanuki's eye patch.

"Kazahaya, what you told a few days ago…was that true!"

"Of course it's true, you idiot!" Kazahaya screeched back.

"Then what the hell is that all about!"

Watanuki had a passing thought that maybe it would be better if Kazahaya weren't sitting in his bed with him, but Doumeki was not about to let him off the hook. He could practically see the hurt and jealousy winding around his boyfriend and he knew this was not the sort of situation that was good with a new relationship of only three days old.

"Watanuki, what were you doing?"

The voice was calm enough, but he heard it louder than Rikuou and Kazahaya's yelling. To him, it was like the lower it was, the more clearly he heard it. "Kazahaya-kun already told you! There was a damn spirit out the window and he was protecting me!"

"…Really."

"_Really_, you damn pompous ass!"

Why did he feel as if their worlds were slowly falling apart? Not only Kazahaya and Rikuou's, but also now his precious relationship with Doumeki. Why was this all happening? Why did everything good he held in his life have to go bad?

Watanuki was yelling, but really, all he wanted to do was cry.

** End **


	12. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

_ Dedicated to rusalkaz _

Normally, the room of apartment 204 was quiet, almost abnormally so, especially when the occupant was a lone high school student. The neighbors surrounding the apartment in question always gossip about such a well-mannered and mild teenage boy, who always took care of his duties at home with such dignity. He was a very nice boy, who always helped the older residents as well. Many thought it was a pity that someone like him was in such dire straits as to live in such a rundown building in the near-bad section of town.

It was on a Thursday night that everything of their opinions of the boy changed. Anger and yells, banging all around. It sounded like a fierce argument, but not just two people. If the neighbors listened hard enough, they could make out for distinct voices: that of the neighbor living in the apartment, Watanuki Kimihiro, but a tone much like his, if a little lower. Then two deeply toned ones that weren't quite as piercing in sound as the others.

"Should we call the police?" an older lady wondered to her husband.

"Don't worry, I'll calm them down."

Surprisingly, the woman who appeared was a beauty, like a model. Her skin was pale and free of any marks of age or abuse. Long black hair was tied in a braid that went down to her waist and wisps of it danced around her face in a beautiful way. She was radiant, a calming aura around her as her smile was friendly. Her clothes were fashionable, but not overwhelmingly expensive and of a modest cut, unlike most of the new models that thought more skin was better.

"I-If you say so…"

"Yes, please go back to sleep."

It appeared as if she didn't need a key to enter the apartment and did so without even knocking or ringing the doorbell…

Yuuko leaned in the doorway to the bedroom, not missing the fact that all four occupants that were yelling at the top of their lungs didn't even notice her. My, her little Watanuki was looking handsome with his cheeks so flushed, his clothing mussed up and showing a bare shoulder. She knew, naturally, what happened, but nobody else did.

"Watanuki, you're looking so like a man tonight!" Her cheerful, motherly tone caused silence and the subject in question to freeze like a deer caught in headlights. Four pairs of eyes slowly fixed on her and she inwardly basked in all the attention. She loved being a heroine in such dire straits. "Those cheeks so prettily red, and you've gotten more muscular lately! No _wonder_ Doumeki-kun fell in love with such a beauty!"

The sheer astonishment in the atmosphere made it very, very, very hard to not laugh and giggle until her stomach ached and she could no longer stand. Mokona, sitting on her shoulder, kept making strange little coughing noises in her ear, as if he too was having trouble controlling his amusement.

"Y-Y-Y-Yuuko-san? Wh-what are you doing here?"

"But Watanuki! I felt a disturbance in the spiritual energies surrounding me, giving me pains in my belly and my throat became so parched that I thought I'd die! And you were the only one who could save me, so I rushed right over!"

"In other words, you're hungry and you want sake."

She laughed at his flat and no-argument tone of voice. She couldn't help it. Her little Watanuki was truly so adorable now that he was just hitting adolescence and getting himself one hunk of a beau.

"Sorry, Yuuko-san, but right now is not the best time at all for this. I'll make you something tomorrow."

"Oh, so you mean that you're not in the midst of a huge argument that's waking up your neighbors, who want to call the police, because you're having an argument with your boyfriend, your best friend, and your best friend's secret love, who all rushed over here because they were worried about you and got into a misunderstanding because your best friend tried to protect you from the spirit that was hounding outside your window until your lover's presence merely banished it?"

My, what a mouthful, but it was just _too_ much fun! The expression on all the little dearies' faces of all the boys was too good an opportunity to pass up! Boys…! When you were that age, so young, there were always complications. Always so much excitement over misunderstandings! It was impossible to ignore and play with them!

"Uhhhhhhh…"

Yuuko gave her best mysterious smile and…well, there was no other word for it: she _wafted_ into the room like the powerful, mystifying Dimensional Witch she was. Taking pity on all four bewildered and upset boys, she sat in the chair next to Watanuki's desk, crossing her legs so prettily that a princess would have been jealous.

"Truly, do calm down. All of you are making a mountain out of not even a mole hill." She paused. "I'd ask for tea, but until I calm you all down, you're likely to start going at it again." Sighing, she turned to Mokona. "It's not as good as Watanuki's, but get us something to drink?"

Mokona smiled in that adorable way he had. She hadn't told Watanuki just the extent of Mokona's abilities. It was a simple matter of getting Mokona to get tea for the rest of them. After all, if a staff could be transferred through his mouth between worlds, and eat a whole bunch of spirits, what was a little tea?

The cups were from the most perfect china, from her own storeroom that she had yet to show Watanuki. They were actually a remnant of her former life before she became the Dimensional Witch, which was another story altogether.

"There's some tea, if you all would like some. First off, let's get a few things settled. There was indeed a spirit outside of Watanuki's window. It was not a strong one, but Watanuki's wards have gotten old and were _not_ from Doumeki-kun's shrine, so it would have broken through. Doumeki-kun's presence dispersed it. Secondly, Kudou-kun was indeed only trying to protect Watanuki, and had the spirit gotten in before you both arrived, it would have indeed injured Kudou-kun instead." She paused and sipped her hot tea, noticing that no one else bothered to get a cup. What a disappointment! So serious these boys were!

"And that's all! Now you can all discuss it in a calm manner without misunderstandings. Me? I'll just sit here and have my tea and referee!"

What was with the astonished silence again? She smiled prettily and made herself a bit more comfortable, with every intention of staying to observe the fun. Really, what was the use of being thousands of years old if you didn't get a chance to enjoy it?

"Y-Yuuko-san…"

"Kazahaya, is that true? You just shielded him!" Rikuou interrupted, green eyes staring fiercely at his partner.

"_Yes_, you damn jerk! What the _hell_ did you think I've been saying this whole damn time! And what does it _matter_! It's not like you like me anyway, so why are you acting so damn jealous!"

"It doesn't matter to me! _You're_ the one who confessed to me! You want me to sit idly by when I see you in a position like that! Making me think that your confession really didn't mean much to you!"

"It meant more than you'd know, you jerk!" Kazahaya yelled back, getting on his feet in anger. "Do you have any idea how much courage it took to just tell you, let alone kiss you! You even made me cry, damn you! Your answer was as close to a no without saying the actual word as could be!"

"_I didn't say no!_ You expected me to give an answer right then! You just sprung it on me! How was I supposed to know right on the spot how I felt about you!"

"If you don't know, then don't act so jealous!"

"How can I not when I saw you like that! You're just so oblivious to everything! Do you even know what not coming home tonight, not telling me where you were going, did to my heart? I was dying of worry over you!"

"_Stop it_, just stop it! Don't tell me things that might give me hope if you have no intention of following through!"

"Damn it, you stuck up brat!"

Yuuko watched with satisfaction as suddenly, with those words, Rikuou's hand shot out to grip Kazahaya's wrist and drag him closer for what proved to be a very satisfactory kiss. It seemed to drain out all the fight in Kazahaya and her smile widened at how the boy melted in the arms of his new boyfriend. Kakei would be so very pleased! She would take pleasure in describing _every. single. detail._ to him.

"Rikuou…?" asked a dazed Kazahaya when they drew away.

"Just shut up for once, okay?"

But the voice in which Rikuou spoke was soft and it seemed to melt Kazahaya even more, until he was burying himself into his partner's embrace. Yuuko sighed silently, remembering those kinds of holds: they were so warm and fulfilling, giving such a joy to your heart that you just hold on tighter and tighter until you couldn't breathe, but that didn't matter because the air you needed was right in front of you and all you had to do was tilt your head up for those life-giving kisses…

Ahhh…what an old sap she was becoming.

"Now, your turn Watanuki, Doumeki-kun!"

Her words intruded into the suddenly lovey-dovey atmosphere and Watanuki choked. Rikuou and Kazahaya seemed to come back into the real world and instantly, Kazahaya's face turned beat red. There was a flash and Mokona giggled, holding a disposable camera in one little hand.

"Good shot, Mokona! You're so cool! I'll have to sell the prints to Kakei!"

"Yuuko-san, that's a bit much!" protested Watanuki. "It's their private moment, how could you--"

"Watanuki."

Yuuko's eyes slid to Doumeki, who had interrupted the soon to be furious tirade of his boyfriend. This promised to be good. Doumeki rarely said a lot, but what he did say, he meant and she meant to listen to it all. After all, she did have a tape recorder in her pocket, recording everything they said. This opportunity was too good to pass up! She had to have pictures and a record of all the embarrassing things they said.

"Y-Yes?"

"I was jealous."

"Wh-what!"

"That's why I was acting angry. I was jealous because I don't want to lose you. I will do whatever it takes to keep you. _Whatever_ it takes." There was a pause and Doumeki looked away, as if he couldn't meet the gaze of his stupefied lover. "I was jealous of Kudou-san, because you hit it off so well from the time you met. You've been seeing him the past three days after school and I…When I heard you call him Kazahaya-kun tonight, it was like all my fears and apprehensions came out all at once. I won't lose you, Watanuki."

This was the part she was most interested in and Yuuko's eyes snapped instantly to Watanuki's reaction. Slowly, that thin but not quite so frail form stood, wavering on his feet, before coming to stand a few inches away from his boyfriend.

"Doumeki…"

"I guess it's because our relationship was so new that my insecurities from seeing you two get along so well got out of control when we got together." Doumeki's eyes lifted to glance at Rikuou and it seemed they shared a silent understanding. Kazahaya just seemed stunned that anyone would feel jealous over him, but because he was nestled so perfectly in Rikuou's arms, and Rikuou's hand over his mouth, he didn't say anything.

"I didn't know…you don't tell me what you think, so how was I supposed to know?" Watanuki snapped, in full form again. "You idiot! If you don't tell me what you think, how am I supposed to know what to do!"

"You want to know what I think?"

"Yes, you great lump!"

"I think I want to kiss you."

Yuuko nudged Mokona with her elbow and the camera lifted a little. Watanuki's cheeks were flushing red prettily and he had effectively forgotten the rest of the guests as thoroughly as Rikuou and Kazahaya had moments ago. She would _not_ miss this shot.

Hesitant lips touched a firm pair and Watanuki truly did look like a fainting violet like that. It was no wonder Doumeki had fallen for such a creature. He was like a wild and rare unicorn, only to be tamed by one hand alone, though it may not necessarily be a virgin…But that impression was only when he wasn't his usual, uptight and excitable self. If he'd just calm down a little and toned down his antics, he'd be quite the idol.

Snap!

The picture taken, it jerked Watanuki out the little world they'd been in and the chaste kiss stopped instantly. Doumeki seemed slightly put out about it, but Yuuko didn't care. She giggled insanely and immediately grabbed the camera to hide it so Watanuki couldn't get it. She stopped recording the tape, which would bring her many laughs in the future, and stood.

"Thank you so much for a _lovely_ evening! I had quite a lot of fun being here, surrounded by all the love you boys have been spewing. Kudou-kun, Himura-kun, Watanuki does have that extra futon you can drag to the living room to use and it is only right that Watanuki and Doumeki-kun use his bedroom."

"What are you talking about, Yuuko-san?" Watanuki asked, bewildered. "Use my bedroom for what?"

Mokona hopped on her palm as she passed out of the doorway, glancing back at her part-time employee with the smile he hated most. "Why, for _sex_, silly!"

"3, 2," she whispered as she walked. Silence followed her and she was already at the front door when she heard it. "1."

"_**YUUKO-SAAAAN!**_"

** End **


	13. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

_ Dedicated to rusalkaz _

Kakei listened to the almost silence and shared a secret smile with Yuuko, sitting across from him. He'd heard from her how Doumeki Shizuka could not enter her shop, how only those who needed it could. Did he need her shop, now that he was currently sitting in her living room? But he wasn't worried. He'd never know if Saiga would be allowed in, since his lover wouldn't go within three miles of the shop, let alone enter it.

"Still, I am envious of you, Yuuko-san. You get to have all the fun," he teased, mock-pouting.

Yuuko laughed heartily and clinked her glass of sake with Mokona. "Of course! It's one of the perks of my job as the all-knowing Dimensional Witch."

They must have listened to the tape recording of the night when all the boys made up about five times now and it still didn't stop his heart from melting every time when he listened to it. Even if it was just a recording, somehow it managed to capture the emotions of his employees so well that he sighed in longing, remembering the younger days when he wasn't the manager of the store and he and Saiga had just met.

"Did you know they would fight that night, Kakei?"

He looked up. He had never actually told Yuuko about his power to see the future, but somehow, she had always known anyway, so there really was no point in denying it. Perhaps that was why he was already prepared for most things.

"Yes."

"Did you know I would be going?"

"Of course not, you know that Yuuko-san. Whenever it comes to you or someone as powerful as you, my ability is nowhere near strong enough to see the future of that."

There was companionable silence for a bit and Kakei reflected on the last week. First, the whole fiasco with the evil house, then the mess between the boys' relationships. He was tired and wanted a vacation after all the fretting he'd done. But since he was the manager, he rarely actually got what he wanted.

"Do you think they're actually…"

Yuuko knew what he was asking somehow when he trailed off. "Do I think they're having sex?" She laughed and drained her sake cup. "Don't know, really. I expect Watanuki is probably just cuddling with Doumeki-kun. I think it will take awhile before my little employee will get to the physical stage, and hardly with Kudou-kun and Himura-kun in the same apartment as him. What about your employees?"

Kakei smiled in a paternal fashion. "I don't know, honestly. Whether or not they do is probably going to be entirely up to Rikuou. I don't think Kazahaya has that much courage."

"You haven't seen that far?"

"I haven't tried," he gently rebuffed her. "I don't use my powers to peep on intimate situations."

"What fun is that?" she teased and they shared a laugh together. They'd been friends for some years now and it never ceased to amaze him how much fun things could get when she was around. It was just her very nature to attract chaos and that chaos, a lot of the time, ended up with very strange endings.

"I've always been meaning to ask you…do you have any idea why Saiga doesn't seem to like you?"

"That's an easy question," came the reply promptly. "He dislikes me for several reasons. The first, he's afraid I might steal you from him, even if that's an irrational fear. Secondly, he's wary of my powers. Thirdly, he doesn't like who my ex-boyfriend used to be."

"Ex-boyfriend?" he asked curiously. "Who was it?"

She grimaced. "Clow Reed."

"You mean…_him_?"

"I'm not surprised even you know of him. Anyone with any kind of power of any true age knows of him. Annoying, famous, busybody was what he was. Always lecturing me about how I shouldn't be so cold in my business."

"So why did you date him?"

A soft smile touched her lips. "Despite all that, he really was a good guy at heart, so I guess that's why. Sometimes I thought that he let me see a side of him no one else saw, even his guardians. But perhaps that was just my wishful thinking."

Kakei sipped his sake, watching bemusedly as Mokona poured himself and Yuuko another glass. He was still on his first, as Saiga would literally kill him if he came home drunk. The subject of Yuuko's past was always a touchy thing, so he didn't ask any more about it.

"So, Kakei…"

"Yes?"

"Did you want to buy some of those pictures?"

** End **


End file.
